Iranian MPs Call for Deterrent Nuclear Capability as UN Sanctions Snap Back

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – In a significant and potentially pivotal development, more than 70 members of Iran's Islamic Consultative Assembly have signed a formal letter demanding a "review of the defensive doctrine" of the Islamic Republic and, critically, a re-evaluation of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's religious edict, or fatwa, that prohibits the production and use of nuclear weapons. The letter, addressed to the Supreme National Security Council and the heads of the three branches of government, argues that while the use of atomic weapons may be forbidden, their "construction and maintenance as deterrence is another matter," a carefully worded distinction that opens the door to an explicit pursuit of a nuclear bomb.

This unprecedented public push by a substantial bloc of Iranian parliamentarians, reported on by BBC Persian and the Iranian news outlet Khabaronline, comes at a moment of extreme peril for Iran.

The country is reeling from the re-imposition of United Nations sanctions, which are set to take full effect next Saturday, and is still grappling with the aftermath of a direct 12-day military conflict with Israel and the United States in June that saw several of its key nuclear facilities bombed. It is this dramatically altered security landscape, the lawmakers argue, that necessitates a fundamental rethinking of Iran's strategic posture.

According to the full text of the letter published by Khabaronline, the signatories contend that Ayatollah Khamenei's original 2010 fatwa was issued at a time when "international bodies and Western countries had the minimal ability to control the cursed Zionist regime." Today, they argue, the situation is vastly different, with an "usurping regime" that "has reached the point of madness and attacks wherever its evil hand reaches."

The letter employs arguments from Shia Islamic jurisprudence to justify a potential reversal of the fatwa.

"You are aware that a change in subject and a difference in conditions in Imami jurisprudence will lead to a change in ruling," the MPs wrote.

They further argued that the "expediency of preserving dear Islam," which they equate with the preservation of the Islamic Republic, is an "important obligation that can change the initial prohibition into a permissible ruling as a secondary ruling."

Citing a Quranic verse that calls on believers to "prepare against them whatever you are able of power... by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy," the lawmakers explicitly requested a review of the country's defensive doctrine for the sake of "deterrence in this world where the front of arrogance adheres to no commitment or law."

The timing of the letter's publication is a subject of some confusion and debate.

The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency quoted Meysam Zohourian, a Member of Parliament from Mashhad and one of the signatories, as stating that the letter is actually from last year and that its recent re-publication has "mostly caused controversy."

BBC Persian also noted that a similar request was made last year by 39 MPs, though the text was not made public at the time. It appears, as BBC Persian suggests, that the letter now circulating is the same one from last year, but has now garnered the signatures of a significantly larger and more influential number of representatives.

Regardless of the letter's exact origin, its public emergence at this precise moment of crisis carries immense political weight.

Ayatollah Khamenei's fatwa has been a cornerstone of Iran's public posture on the nuclear issue for over a decade. He has repeatedly stated that nuclear weapons are "haraam," or forbidden, under Islamic law, and that they represent a "crime against humanity."

In 2010, he declared, "We consider the use of these weapons forbidden and the effort to protect humanity from this great calamity a duty for everyone." This position was formally registered by Iran's mission to the UN as an official document of the Security Council and General Assembly and was frequently referenced by world leaders, including former U.S. President Barack Obama, during the negotiations that led to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

However, in recent years, the sanctity of the fatwa has been increasingly questioned by figures from across the Iranian political spectrum.

BBC Persian highlighted that high-ranking officials, including the former Minister of Intelligence Mahmoud Alavi and the head of the Atomic Energy Organization Mohammad Eslami, have publicly spoken of Iran's technical capability to build a bomb, even while stating that a political decision has not been made to do so. The recent war with Israel and the direct attacks on nuclear sites have only amplified these calls.

The international community, however, remains deeply skeptical of Iran's stated peaceful intentions. Rafael Grossi, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told Agence France-Presse that diplomatic efforts to resolve the dispute are currently in a "difficult phase."

His comments came as Iran and the three European signatories to the JCPOA—Britain, France, and Germany, known as the E3—are engaged in last-ditch talks at the UN General Assembly in New York to avert the full snapback of sanctions.

According to a Reuters report citing senior Iranian officials and Western diplomats, the foreign ministers of Iran and the E3 are scheduled to meet on Tuesday. The European powers have reportedly offered to delay the reinstatement of sanctions for up to six months in exchange for Iran restoring full access for UN nuclear inspectors, addressing concerns about its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, and engaging in direct talks with the United States. However, two European diplomats told Reuters that the chances of reaching an agreement are "slim," as Iran has so far failed to meet these conditions.

The pressure on the Iranian diplomatic team is immense. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, currently in New York, has called on the European powers to choose "cooperation or confrontation," and has stated that if a diplomatic solution is not found, "Tehran will take appropriate measures."

This defiant tone is mirrored by hardliners back in Tehran. Hossein-Ali Hajideligani, a conservative MP and another signatory of the letter, was quoted by Tasnim as saying that in response to the Security Council's decision, "the plan for Iran's withdrawal from the Non-Proliferation Treaty has been finalized and is ready to be presented to parliament."

As the clock ticks down to the September 27 deadline for the full re-imposition of sanctions, the publication of the lawmakers' letter adds a dangerous and unpredictable new element to the crisis. It signals a growing and increasingly vocal consensus within the Iranian political establishment that the strategic calculus has changed and that the ultimate deterrent may now be necessary.

While the Supreme Leader remains the final arbiter on such a fateful decision, the letter from over 70 parliamentarians is a clear and powerful message that the debate over Iran's nuclear future has entered a new and potentially irreversible phase.