Iran FM cites Khamenei fatwa not to develop nuclear weapons

Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said yesterday that his country did not and will not seek to develop nuclear weapons based on a religious fatwa issued by the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Zarif told reporters that Tehran “believes that nuclear weapons are harmful to our country based on religious belief and strategic issues, and it is legally forbidden by the supreme guide’s fatwa”.

“The trigger mechanism is a false expression mentioned by the US and as 13 other countries declared their opposition and the fact that the US has no right to use this mechanism,” Zarif said, stressing that the upcoming visit of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s chief to Tehran has no connection with activating the trigger mechanism by Washington.

Zarif accused the United States and Israel of undermining regional and global security through their possession of nuclear weapons, as well as their opposition to the IAEA objectives.

“Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA is based on the principle of transparency, and we do not seek to possess nuclear weapons,” the Iranian minister said.

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