Iran Never Seeks Nukes: Leader of Islamic Ummah and Oppressed Imam Ali Khamenei

Ayatollah Khamenei made the remarks on Thursday, addressing thousands of people from Iran’s East Azerbaijan province via video conference, marking the anniversary of the popular uprising of the people of Tabriz, which took place on February 18, 1978.

“You see how oppressively the enemy front is focusing on the issue of our nuclear energy. They [the enemy] impose sanctions [on us] because of a nuclear energy [program] that they know is peaceful. And whatever they may say about Iran being a certain amount of time away from producing a [nuclear] bomb is nonsensical and meaningless,” the Leader said.

“They know we are not seeking that; that we are not looking for a nuclear weapon. We are looking to benefit from nuclear energy in peaceful ways. They know this. [But] They do not want the Iranian nation to achieve such an outstanding scientific progress and that’s why they are pressuring us,” Ayatollah Khamenei added.

The Leader said that Iran will urgently need nuclear energy, and that if the country fails to take action today, it will be too late in 20 years.

Elsewhere, the Leader warned that enemies have been attempting to make the Iranians, specially the youth, stray from the path of the Islamic Revolution using two tactics; economic pressure and a smear campaign of lies and allegations against the pillars of the Revolution through western media.

“The enemies are using two tools to divide the people and the establishment and to engineer the people’s views and thoughts: economic hostility and media enmity,” said the Leader, calling on the nation and the youth to counter the two conspiracies.

The Leader added that the enemies “level accusations against the centers that play a role in the Revolution’s progress”.

Ayatollah Khamenei explained that economic pressure can be foiled through hard work at home, diplomatic efforts and neutralization of the sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic.

The Leader praised the Iranian negotiators for working on the diplomatic front to persuade the Westerners to lift the sanctions placed on the nation.

“However, the major task is to neutralize the sanctions through [engaging in] domestic production and economic activities on the one side, and foiling the enemy’s media campaign and mudslinging, on the other,” Ayatollah Khamenei noted.

Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted the role of the people in the victory of the Islamic Revolution.

“The Islamic Revolution emerged victorious thanks to the presence of the Iranian nation and not guns and political ploys and playing,” the Leader said.

The Leader praised as “astonishing” the infrastructural progress that the country has made in the years that ensued the Islamic Revolution.

As a case in point, Ayatollah Khamenei pointed to Iran’s scientific achievements in the past four decades and said the country’s growth rate has been “multiple times higher than that of the rest of the world.”

The Leader said the Iranian nation’s perseverance has been fruitful not just inside the country but also across the region.

“You witness today that the resistance movement in regional countries is growing and the grandeur of America and [global] arrogance is broken. The nations are speaking out against America. We should appreciate this and keep up the Revolution’s progress,” the Leader noted.

Ayatollah Khamenei also hailed the massive participation of the Iranian people in recent celebrations marking the 43rd anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, which overthrew the former US-backed Pahlavi regime, despite the coronavirus pandemic, economic problems and the campaign of lies launched by foreigners.

He said the Islamic Revolution’s goals were bringing about social justice, power, a Muslim society and, ultimately, a modern Islamic civilization, calling on everyone to make efforts toward fulfilling the objectives.

Ayatollah Khamenei has on many occasions said the Islamic Republic considers the pursuit and possession of nuclear weapons “a grave sin” from every logical, religious and theoretical standpoint. On April 17, 2010 Ayatollah Khamenei issued a fatwa declaring that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are all haram (religiously banned).

“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.