TEHRAN: With the prospect of Israeli retaliation for Iran’s missile attack looming, some Iranian hardline lawmakers want their government to revise its nuclear doctrine to pursue atomic weapons.
Israel has vowed to launch a “deadly, precise, and surprising” attack on Iran in retaliation for its second direct missile strike on Israeli territory.
On October 1, Iran launched around 200 missiles at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah and a general from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
The tension has escalated, prompting more than three dozen hardline lawmakers to submit a letter to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, urging a reassessment of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear policy.
They have also called on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to reconsider his long-standing fatwa against nuclear weapons.
Lawmaker Hassan Ali Akhalghi Amiri expressed his concerns, stating, “Today, neither the international organisations nor European countries or America can control the Zionist regime, which commits crimes at will.”
Another parliamentarian, Mohammad Reza Sabaghian, said that “building nuclear weapons is Iran’s option to create deterrence.”
State media reported that a bill for the “expansion of the country’s nuclear industry” was presented to parliament, though no details were provided. Despite the hardline stance, the Islamic Republic has historically insisted that its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful.
In response to Iran’s missile strike, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stated, “Our attack in Iran will be deadly, precise and surprising. Those who try to harm the State of Israel will pay a price.”
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has advised Israel against targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities, warning that such actions could lead to severe retaliation.
Iran has threatened that any attack on its infrastructure would trigger an “even stronger response,” with Revolutionary Guards General Rassul Sanairad declaring that strikes on nuclear or energy sites would cross a “red line.”
Political commentator Maziar Khosravi noted that while the lawmakers’ letter serves as a strong message to Western allies of Israel, any change in Iran’s nuclear policy ultimately rests with the supreme leader.
Historically, this debate over nuclear doctrine has resurfaced periodically, often in reaction to heightened tensions with Israel.
In April, following Iran’s first direct attack on Israel, Kamal Kharazi, an adviser to Khamenei, asserted that Iran was not pursuing nuclear weapons, but warned that threats from Israel could lead to a reevaluation of this stance.
While some analysts speculate about the possibility of Iran withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if attacked, others believe a significant shift in nuclear policy remains unlikely for now.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, who assumed office in July, has focused on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal to alleviate economic sanctions and isolation.
“We want to tell the world that we are not after a nuclear bomb,” Pezeshkian said in an interview with CNN in New York last month.
Despite the deal’s collapse after the US withdrawal in 2018, Pezeshkian reiterated Iran’s commitment to a nuclear-free world and expressed a desire for the Middle East to be free of weapons of mass destruction.
“We want a world free of nuclear weapons and the region of the Middle East free of WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) without any preconditions!” Pezeshkian said at last month’s gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly.
