It has gone largely unnoticed in all the coverage of Iran’s resumed nuclear fuel enrichment operations, but an official statement issued by the Islamic republic at the emergency meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna Aug. 9 noted that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a fatwa forbidding the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons.
The full text of the statement is online at Mathaba.net:
Madam chair, colleagues,
We meet when the world is remembering the atomic bombings of the civilians in Hiroshima (Aug 6) and Nagasaki (Aug 9) sixty years ago.The savagery of the attack, the human suffering it caused, the scale of the civilian loss of life turning individuals, old and young, into ashes in a split second, and maiming indefinitely those who survived should never be removed from our memory. It is the most absurd manifestation of irony that the single state who caused this single nuclear catastrophe in a twin attack on our earth now has assumed the role of the prime preacher in the nuclear field while ever expanding its nuclear weapons capability.
We as members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) are proud to underline that none of the NPT [Non-Proliferation Treaty] members of the NAM rely on nuclear weapons in any way for their security. That is not the case of many other states, who either possess nuclear weapons or are member of nuclear-armed alliances and it is such states that have taken on the self-assigned role of denying Iran its legal rights under the NPT to access the peaceful uses of nuclear technology in conformity with the treaty’s non-proliferation obligations.
Indeed, it is not only Iran but also many members of NAM that are denied the peaceful uses of nuclear technology by some of the NPT nuclear-weapon states and their allies through the mechanisms of export controls and other denial arrangements. In 1995, they adopted the so-called “Iran clause” under which they agreed to deny nuclear technology to Iran in any circumstances.
You can then understand, why Iran after being denied nuclear technology in violation of the NPT, had no other option but to rely on indigenous efforts with precaution on full transparency and we succeeded in developing our nuclear technology. Iran is a nuclear fuel cycle technology holder, a capability which is exclusively for peaceful purposes.
The Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued the Fatwa that the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons are forbidden under Islam and that the Islamic Republic of Iran shall never acquire these weapons. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who took office just recently, in his inaugural address reiterated that his government is against weapons of mass destruction and will only pursue nuclear activities in the peaceful domain. The leadership of Iran has pledged at the highest level that Iran will remain a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the NPT and has placed the entire scope of its nuclear activities under IAEA safeguards and additional protocol, in addition to undertaking voluntary transparency measures with the agency that have even gone beyond the requirements of the agency’s safeguard system.
See our last post on Iran’s nuclear program, and on the Hiroshima commemorations.
Another moral victory for Shias
This reinforced my growing sense that Shia Islam, as practiced in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, is a tremendous source of moral authority both in the Middle East and in the world. In Lebanon the Shia liberated their country from Israeli occupation with descending into brutal and counterproductive attacks on civilians. In Iran they have created a viable democracy, which demonstrated in the most recent elections that it holds the support of the vast majority of the population, and now seizes the high moral ground again in its position on nuclear weapons. And in Iraq, the Ayatollah Sistani has been the heart and soul of the democracization movement. If the truth of a religion can be judge by the acts of leaders, we should all become Shias.
This fatwa is a glimmer of hope, but…
you need to read up on the Amnesty International reports on Iran. Bigtime.
Blah, blah, WTF.
Yay, he’s against nukes, but doesn’t mind opponents getting beaten up by the cops. Maybe he’s trying to save his country?
Maybe this one example is reflective of humanity as a whole. No one, not one of us, can be completely against tyranny in all of it’s forms. Those on the side of the UN/EU/Amnesty International New World Order mindf**k obviously don’t want there to be any sovereign states left on the planet by the end of this century, and those opposed to such world-spanning authorites obviously don’t mind that many sovereign nations often treat political dissidents harshly, sometimes fatally. Self-proclaimed Anarchists obviously don’t mind the fact that the conditions they want to create would eventually lead to the reemergence of governments, and that a debatable majority of them would fall somewhere between that of the Maldives and Pol-Pot’s Cambodia with regards to Civil “Rights.”
As for Nuclear weapons, well, as far as I can tell, they kept the USSR and USA from fighting each other directly (they fought each other indirectly in Korea and Viet Nam, finding it much more appealing to screw with dirt-poor Asian countries than having either of our own homelands set ablaze), they’ve kept the Pakistanis and Indians too afraid of each other to declare outright war, and they’ll probably continue to do so. Can’t say they’re really an attractive prospect on their own, but I don’t see why they should be scorned for preventing the Cold War from turning into a hot one that would’ve made the last one look like nothing.
Politically, Islam (Shia or
Politically, Islam (Shia or Suni) is tyranny. Women and children enslaved, sexually and physically abused, trained to hate and become cannon-fodder in a war against civilization; men brainwashed into believing all non-Muslims are subhuman and must be killed to please God. There is not one Islamic country that does not practice torture, support international terrorism and demonize non-Muslims.
Socially, Islam is incompatible with free, decent, rational, compassionate, fair and noble systems of human organization.
Iranian leaders lie to the West about their nuclear aims; before their own people they have sworn to destroy Israel, Britain and America. Anyone who can write anything supporting Iran is either an evil propagandist for the global jihad, or a seriously deluded, historically ill-schooled and intellectually dishonest dupe.
Iran Nukes and Fatwa
Once again Iran showed a better understanding of nukes than US. US has used and sold nukes to other countries, helping India to develop them although they are not in NPT. Iran’s restrain in spite of US and west is their enemy is a message to all countries that they are peaceful. US and west need to learn the lessons from this. The claim is Iran tortures but so is US and weat has helped in rendition and transport and US set such a shining record in Abu Graib and Gautanamo that no can say a single word about Iran.
Us should work Saudis and Egyptians to learn a lesson of democracy and if that does not work they should be taught by missles!!
Unconfirmed Fatwa
It should be noted that this Fatwa is unconfirmed, meaning that no official Fatwa has ever been cited publicly. The only reference to the alleged Fatwa is in this statement.