Former Top Negotiator Raps West for Imposing Unjustified Sanctions on Iran
Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani blasted the justifications used by the western powers for approving resolutions and sanctions against Iran, and said the religious fiat issued by the Supreme Leader against the production and use of nuclear weapons has taken away all excuses used by the West in this regard.
“The explicit Fatwa (religious fiat) issued by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution (Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei) about the religious ban on the production of nuclear weapons and also Iran’s record in complying with its undertakings with regard to the IAEA’s uncalled inspections and its close cooperation with the Agency in the past 10 years have left no justification for resolutions and sanctions against Iran,” Rohani said in a meeting with Norway’s envoy to Tehran on Sunday.
Rohani, who currently heads the Iranian Expediency Council’s Strategic Research Center, stressed that sanctions are “wrong and tyrannical” and leave negative and unjustifiable impacts on the life of the Iranian people.
Rohani further said Europeans’ false understanding of Islam, Islamic Revolution and Iran’s independence has resulted in their wrong stance on Iran and led them to decisions that have been harmful both to Tehran and the Europeans as well.
Washington and its Western allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian nuclear program, while they have never presented any corroborative evidence to substantiate their allegations. Iran denies the charges and insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Tehran stresses that the country has always pursued a civilian path to provide power to the growing number of Iranian population, whose fossil fuel would eventually run dry.
Despite the rules enshrined in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) entitling every member state, including Iran, to the right of uranium enrichment, Tehran is now under four rounds of UN Security Council sanctions for turning down West’s calls to give up its right of uranium enrichment.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa on April 17, 2010 declaring that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are all haram (religiously prohibited).
“Iran is not after a nuclear bomb. Why would Iran want a nuclear bomb? Moreover, when an atomic bomb is detonated, it does not just kill enemies. Rather, it kills innocent people as well, and this goes against Islamic beliefs and the principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
An atomic bomb does not discriminate between good and bad people, and it is not something that the Islamic Republic would use. The Islamic Republic is relying on something that is not affected by bombs, foreign invasions and other such things. Such things only strengthen what the Islamic republic is relying on. The Islamic republic is relying on the people,” a part of the fatwa said.
Analysts believe that the fatwa of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution can well serve as a beacon of light for Washington in order to find its way out of darkness and ignorance.
The fatwa issued by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Grand Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei forbidding the production, proliferation and use of nuclear bombs is to be considered a political milestone in Iranian history and one which can salvage the Islamic nation from the spate of external threats and plots.
Fatwa is a religious decree issued by a Muslim leader against a specific issue and it is incumbent upon all Muslims to abide by it. However, in this particular case, the issuance of the fatwa has not only religious but political force as well as the leader in the Islamic Republic is the prime decision-maker.
Meantime, the UN nuclear watchdog has also carried out frequent surprise inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites so far, but found nothing to support West’s allegations that Tehran pursues military purposes.
The Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog continues snap inspections of Iranian nuclear sites and has reported that all declared nuclear material in Iran has been accounted for, and therefore such material is not diverted to prohibited activities.
Iran, an NPT-signatory, has also repeatedly called for the removal of all weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, from across the globe.
