Weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran’s defense doctrine: Rouhani
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic is determined that weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), including nuclear weapons, have not place in the country’s defense strategy.
Rouhani made the remarks at a cabinet meeting, arguing that the Islamic Republic does not want to have nuclear weapons and it does not want to use such a weapon at all.
This is not a new or recent decision, because Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and late Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani underlined nearly 30 years ago that the Islamic Republic will not pursue nuclear weapons, but the country seeks nuclear technology for peaceful purposes because this is Iranians’ right, the president noted.
Iran is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Tehran has a safeguard agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the country has implemented the agreement; therefore, the Islamic Republic is determined not to pursue a concealed nuclear activity, he noted.
“Whatever the US, Europe and the UN want, even if the whole world tells us that Iran should have nuclear weapons, our determination would not alter; our decision is the same viewpoint that the Supreme Leader declared as his decree and that is the promise that we made under the NPT and the Safeguard Agreement,” Rouhani added.
The Islamic Republic has always proven that it will abide by all its commitments and accords, including the nuclear issue, the head of the government of prudence and hop mentioned.
The JCPOA has been the result of months of negotiations between Iran and six world powers, he said, adding that the path to reach the international agreement was not easy and that Tehran supports the deal in its initial form, which was signed in 2015, and it will not accept any change.
After former US President Donald Trump under Israeli, Saudi and American lobbyists pulled out his country from the JCPOA in 2018, he tried to hold talks with the Iranian delegation at the UN General Assembly in New York, but the Iranian delegation dismissed such a demand, underlining that the Islamic Republic accepts the JCPOA without any alternation, Rouhani added.
The Iranian president called on the European powers to be aware that Iran will not accept any talks on its missile power and its regional influence, and that if Tehran had accepted such demands, Trump would have returned to the JCPOA.
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