Kamal Kharrazi, an adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said on Friday that the Islamic Republic may revise its nuclear doctrine if the country faces an “existential threat”.
“We now have the technical capacity required to produce nuclear weapons. It is only the Supreme Leader’s fatwa that forbids it at present,” Kharrazi told the Hezbollah-linked Al-Mayadeen TV channel.
“If Iran’s survival is threatened, we reserve the right to reconsider,” he continued.
Ali Khamenei banned the production of nuclear weapons in a fatwa, a kind of religious edict, in the early 2000s.
He reiterated his position in 2019.
“Building and stockpiling nuclear bombs is wrong and using them is haram [religiöst förbjudet].”, he said.
Want to increase the range of ballistic missiles
Kharrazi also stated that Iran would respond to Israel’s retaliatory attack last weekend at an “appropriate time.” He added that Tehran is likely to increase the range of its ballistic missiles.
“We are ready for war, but we don’t want an escalation because we have currently proven our capability,” he says.
Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to change the country’s nuclear doctrine in recent years.
Khamenei: “Crushing response”
In a televised speech on Friday, Iran’s supreme leader threatened Israel and the United States. He called both countries “the enemy” and said the countries and its ally will be met with a “crushing response”.
On October 1, Iran attacked Israeli military bases in what was described as revenge for Israel killing Hamas and Hezbollah leaders. Israeli warplanes responded with strikes against several locations in Iran on 26 October.
On Thursday reported The New York Times citing three Iranian sources that Khamenei ordered the country’s military to prepare a revenge attack on Israel. According to sources, an Iranian response will not happen until after Americans go to the polls on November 5.
At the same time, Israeli sources have told Axios that a revenge attack against Israel could take place before the US election. Even a high-ranking Iranian source states CNN that Iran is planning a “definitive and painful” response that is likely to take place before the election.
Israel has increased its security measures in anticipation of a possible response from Iran, according to The Times Of Israel.