Talk of the Day in Iran: The Nuclear Bomb

As Israel debated its response to Iran’s April 13 drone and missile attacks, Brigadier General Ahmad Haqtalab, who is responsible for the security of Iran’s nuclear installations, warned Tehran would “reconsider its nuclear doctrine and policies” if Israel targeted its nuclear infrastructure. This warning was followed by similar statements from a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee. While the former statement was quoted but not debated in Iran’s state-censored media, the latter provoked a national debate on the wisdom of publicly commenting on Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

• April 18: Serat News, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps mouthpiece, quoted Haqtalab as warning that Iran would “reconsider its nuclear doctrine and policies” should Israel attack Iranian nuclear infrastructure. He further suggested that if Iran’s nuclear infrastructure was attacked, it is “likely and conceivable” Iran would “deviate from previously stated positions,” possibly referencing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s highly publicized fatwa, or religious edict, prohibiting the production and use of nuclear weapons.
• April 22: Javad Karimi Qodousi, a member of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, commented on the subject on X, formerly known as Twitter: “It will only take a week from the time permission is given until the first test is conducted,” alluding to the potential for nuclear testing.
• April 24: Centrist Farda News condemned Qodousi’s statements, which, according to the news agency, “undermine” Iran’s national security: “When the West, led by the Zionist regime and the United States, is trying to create an international consensus against Iran, why is a member of the National Security Committee trying to help the enemy with his statements? How can the Foreign Ministry explain to the world that this individual was expressing his personal viewpoints and not the official position of the Islamic Republic of Iran? Zionist media is now constantly reporting that Iran’s missile program is a threat to world security. It is also giving vast coverage to Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, who has repeated his old claim that Iran is just a few weeks away from the nuclear bomb. Iran, on the other hand, is trying to prove that Israel is disturbing the regional order and security and not the Islamic Republic of Iran. Under such circumstances, Qodousi’s tweet does not help Iran’s national security but causes Iranophobia, the exact goal of the United States and the Zionist regime.”
• April 24: IRGC mouthpiece Mashregh News, in an article that for the most part attacked Grossi’s statement that Iran is “just weeks, rather than months” away from obtaining enough enriched uranium to develop a nuclear bomb, made a vague reference to Qodousi’s public comments: “The truth is that Iran’s nuclear doctrine is completely clear and transparent, but Iran will use all of its capacities in the nuclear field to achieve state-of-the-art technology. Individuals expressing their personal viewpoints do not change the general direction of the regime.”

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