Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's adviser has warned that they would change its nuclear doctrine if Israel threatens its existence.
"We have no decision to build a nuclear bomb but should Iran's existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine," Kamal Kharrazi, adviser to Khamenei said.
In 2022, the same adviser said Iran was technically capable of making a nuclear bomb but had not yet decided whether to build one.
Khamenei, who has the final say in Tehran's nuclear program, banned the development of nuclear weapons in a fatwa, or religious edict, in the early 2000s.
But Iran's then-intelligence minister said in 2021 that Western pressure could push Tehran towards nuclear weapons.
Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's adviser has warned that they would change its nuclear doctrine if Israel threatens its existence.
"We have no decision to build a nuclear bomb but should Iran's existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine," Kamal Kharrazi, adviser to Khamenei said.
In 2022, the same adviser said Iran was technically capable of making a nuclear bomb but had not yet decided whether to build one.
Khamenei, who has the final say in Tehran's nuclear program, banned the development of nuclear weapons in a fatwa, or religious edict, in the early 2000s.
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He reiterated that in 2019, saying that building and stockpiling nuclear bombs was "wrong and using it is haram", or religiously forbidden.
But Iran's then-intelligence minister said in 2021 that Western pressure could push Tehran towards nuclear weapons.
Iran and Israel have long been arch-enemies. Last month Tehran launched about 300 missiles and drones against Israel in retaliation for a suspected Israeli strike on its embassy compound in Damascus.
In response, Israel launched an attack on Iranian territory.
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Last week, Iran and the UN's nuclear watchdog had a negotiation over how to implement a deal struck last year to expand inspections of the Islamic Republic's rapidly advancing atomic programme.
International Atomic Energy Agency's leader Rafael Mariano Grossi has already warned that Tehran has enough uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels to make “several" nuclear bombs if it chooses to do so.
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Tensions have grown between Iran and the IAEA since 2018, when then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers. Since then, Iran has abandoned all limits the deal put on its program and enriches uranium to up to 60% purity — near weapons-grade levels of 90%.
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