Hashemi: If Necessary, Iran's Capability to Acquire Nuclear Weapons Remains

Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of Iran's Expediency Council, stated that if the Islamic Republic faces an enemy that intends to use nuclear weapons, Iran's capability to acquire such weapons remains intact. His remarks were reflected on the website 'Hope of Iranian Nuclear Energy' on Tuesday, November 4, and are accompanied by references to Iran's nuclear program and the Islamic Republic's thoughts on it from the time of the war to the present. In this interview, he emphasizes that the foundation of the Islamic Republic's doctrine is the peaceful use of the nuclear program, but at the same time, 'it has never left our minds that if one day we are threatened and there is a necessity, we should have the possibility to go in the other direction, [even though] we have not had a program in this regard and have never gone that way.' Efforts to acquire nuclear weapons are accusations that the U.S. and its allies have attributed to Iran, which Iran has always denied. These suspicions and disputes were a factor for negotiations between Tehran and world powers, which ultimately resulted in the Vienna nuclear agreement on July 14 of this year after years of discussions. Meanwhile, Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, issued a fatwa declaring nuclear weapons to be forbidden, and Iranian officials have emphasized that Iran has no program to acquire nuclear weapons based on this fatwa. However, Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani stated: 'It is true that we are not allowed to go toward nuclear weapons, but if conditions arise and necessity arises, or if we encounter an enemy that wants to use this weapon, our power remains intact.' Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani is a main supporter of President Hassan Rouhani's government, who has repeatedly spoken in support of Iranian negotiators during the nuclear talks and welcomed the nuclear agreement.