Politics
Iranian lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian has called on Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to authorize the country to develop nuclear weapons.
Iranian lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian has called on Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to authorize the country to develop nuclear weapons. He said he made the proposal during a gathering in the city of Qom, where it received support from participants. According to Al Jazeera, Mahmoud Nabavian said in a statement posted on the social media platform X that he had raised the issue of reviewing Iran’s nuclear policy and obtaining authorization to develop an atomic bomb during the gathering.
The demand comes amid growing calls from some Iranian lawmakers for a change in the country's nuclear policy. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes and that it has no intention of developing nuclear weapons. Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, also issued a religious decree (fatwa) against the development of nuclear weapons, which Tehran has consistently cited as the foundation of its nuclear policy.
Meanwhile, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, told Al Jazeera in an interview last September that Iran remained committed to the religious ruling and that there had been no change in its nuclear policy. However, expressing uncertainty about the future, he said it was impossible to predict what might happen in the coming years. Mahmoud Nabavian’s latest statement has once again brought the ongoing debate over the development of nuclear weapons in Iran into the spotlight. However, his demand does not constitute an official decision or announcement by Iran to develop an atomic bomb.
