Calls for Iran to Pursue Nuclear Weapons Gain Ground After War With U.S.

From Friday prayer sermons to street rallies, some Iranian clerics and officials are calling on the country’s leaders to reverse the pledge not to pursue nuclear Weapons. The position, previously associated with hard-liners, is gaining a more prominent place in public debate after Iran’s war with the United States and Israel this past year.

Ali Sepahvand, the Friday prayer leader in the western city of Kuhdasht, said at a recent service that Iran should have nuclear weapons to confront the United States. Congregants chanted that nuclear deterrence was an inalienable right, according to a widely circulated video.

The calls are emerging as Iranian leaders pursue diplomacy to avert renewed conflict with the United States and Israel. For decades, Iranian officials have publicly backed a religious edict by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei forbidding the development and use of nuclear weapons. The decree applied to state institutions, including the military and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Sources: The New York Times World.