Review of Khamenei’s Fatwa Banning Nuclear Weapons

“A re-reading of the feqh views of the Leader of the Revolution (Khamenei) about nuclear weapons being forbidden, the fatwa which dragged the West into a dead-end.”

The historical fatwa of the Leader of the Revolution about Iran being forbidden to build an atomic bomb has not only been effective in advancing our country’s peaceful nuclear ends, but has also dragged into a dead-end the liars who use Islamophobic insinuations to advance their illegitimate ends.

According to Fars News Agency, the Great Leader of the Revolution repeated a fatwa for banning the use of atomic weapons at the First International on Disarmament and Non-proliferation which was held in Tehran in April 2010. He said, “In our opinion, in addition to nuclear weapons, other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, such as chemical and biological weapons, also represent a grave threat to humanity. The Iranian nation, which has itself been a victim of the use of chemical weapons, senses the danger of the production and storage of this kind of weapons and is ready to use all its resources to confront them. We consider the use of these weapons forbidden and the effort to save humanity from this great disaster the duty of all.”

At the same time, the Great Leader, in a visit with the president and officials of the IAEA and a group of our country’s nuclear scientists, emphasized that nuclear weapons are forbidden: “I do not doubt that decision-making and decision-forging institutions which are blocking our path are aware and know that we are not pursuing nuclear weapons. Indeed, nuclear weapons are of no use for us, in addition to the fact that we consider them a violation and using them a violation from an intellectual, theoretical, and fiqh perspectives. We consider the use of these weapons a great sin and their stockpiling something worthless, damaging, and dangerous, and will never pursue them. They know this, too, but insist on this to stop this activity [the Iranian nuclear program].” The Great Leader’s historical fatwa in banning the atom bomb, which is to be considered a great lesson in ethics in the political sphere, has disappointed the West in its efforts to insinuate that the Islamic Republic is building nuclear weapons, yet they will not refrain from their hostility to the [Islamic Republican] system. This fatwa and message of the Leader of the Revolution as the highest officer in the country was noted by various media, which emphasized repeatedly this fatwa as Iran’s religious and political logic, always witnessed in the diplomatic negotiations between Iran and the West, and it was very effective in advancing the peaceful nuclear aims of our country. At this moment, Ali Larijani, the President of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, said in a speech that the Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s fatwa banning the production and use of weapons of mass killing was “a fundamental transformative basis” for ending the arms race.

Similarly, Ayatollah Amoli-Larijani, the president of the judiciary, said on this matter, “If the Western countries were to know the prestige and station of the Valiye Faqih and the Custodian of the Muslims, they would understand that there is no higher guarantor than relying on the word of the Great Leader about Iran’s being disinclined to producing nuclear weapons.” Ali-Akbar Salehi, our country’s Foreign Minister, too, declared in his statement that “According to the Great Leader’s fatwa about nuclear weapons being banned, the mentality about Iran being dangerous has vanished.”

Gholam-Hosein Elham, a former legal scholar member of the Guardian Council, too, said about this decision of the Leader of the Revolution that, “Publishing the Great Leader’s fatwa banning the use of atomic weapons and weapons of mass killing and with the slogan ‘Atomic energy for all, atomic weapons for none!’ has driven the liars who use Islamophobic insinuations to advance their illegitimate ends into a dead end, defeating them by preparing the way to express the truth and justice of the Islamic Republic .

“This fatwa was not raised during a lull in political negotiations to make a political deal. Rather, it has been declared repeatedly and in various forms. But this time, it has bypassed the West’s censorship and has exposed the lying of the propaganda by raising Islam’s shining record in recognizing the human dimension and humanitarian rights.”

Hojjatoleslam Zun-Nur, the former substitute representative of the Valiye Faqih in the Revolutionary Guards, too, believes, concerning the fatwa of the Great Leader about banning the production and use of nuclear weapons, that, “The Islamic Republic, based on its convictions, says that it is not pursuing the production and use of nuclear weapons. The Great Leader, both in his capacity as the great Source of Emulation and as the Custodian of the Muslims and the ruler and Valiye Faqih of an Islamic society, issued a fatwa saying that the production and use of nuclear weapons is not legitimate.”

The Leader of the Revolution explained the true approach of the West regarding the nature of the Islamic Revolution in a speech before a group of the system’s managers, saying, “I believe that as long as Europe and America make a pretence over the issue of nuclear energy and make it out that they are anxious about this issue, they are not concerned. They themselves know that we are not pursuing nuclear weapons. We always repeat and insist. They say, “No” and shake their heads! And this, while they know that we are not pursuing atomic weapons. The point is to preoccupy the Islamic system. One of their primary goals is to keep the Islamic system preoccupied and to divert the attention of the managers, the officials, the Majles, the government, and various other involved individuals from current issues and the country’s work in various branches–whether the judicial branch, the executive branch, or the legislative branch and make them negligent. Even if they were to solve this issue, they would come up with something else!”

This fatwa, which has been turned into an official diplomatic position of the Islamic Republic, not only guarantees our country’s nuclear rights, but, considering Iran’s role as standard-bearer in the Islamic awakening, has confirmed the Islamic Republic’s just positions before the Muslim countries and raised it as a pattern for how to continue on their path. 

Size: 3.3M bytes Modified: 8 July 2013, 16:44