A spokesman for the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence said Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not made a decision to rescind his 2003 fatwa (theological opinion) prohibiting the development of nuclear weapons.
“We believe that the Supreme Leader has not made a decision to resume the nuclear weapons program that Iran suspended in 2003,” — he said in a comment to Reuters, TASS reports.
According to the agency, this conclusion by US intelligence “may help explain why the United States opposes any Israeli attack on the facilities of Iran’s nuclear program” in response to the October 1 Iranian missile attack.
As reported, on October 9, a member of the Iranian parliament Hasanali Ekhlaki Amiri reported that a group of 39 parliamentarians sent an official letter to the Supreme National Security Council of the Islamic Republic requesting, in the context of the threat from Israel, to review the defense doctrine and allow the development of nuclear weapons.
Since 2003, Iran has had Khamenei’s fatwa stating that the production of nuclear weapons is prohibited because it is contrary to Islam. According to Ekhlaki Amiri, it may be reviewed for reasons of national security and public demand.
