An adviser to Iran’s supreme leader stressed that the Islamic Republic has the technical capabilities to produce nuclear weapons.
(JNS)
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei stepped up his bellicose rhetoric on Saturday, threatening both Israel and the United States with a “crushing response.”
“The United States of America and the Zionist regime will definitely receive a crushing response for what they do against Iran and the Resistance Front,” the Iranian ayatollah wrote on X.
In a tweet posted an hour earlier, Khamenei said: “We will definitely do everything necessary to prepare the Iranian nation for confronting the Arrogant Powers, whether militarily, in terms of armament, or politically. Our officials are already working on this.”
Although he did not specify when and how Tehran was intending to act, the threat comes on the backdrop of a New York Times report suggesting that Khamenei recently instructed the country’s Supreme National Security Council to prepare for another assault on Israel.
Such an attack would be the third after two direct ballistic missile assaults on the Jewish state, the first in April and another last month.
The U.S. has warned Tehran that it would not be able to restrain Jerusalem in the event of another attack, Axios reported on Saturday, citing an American and former Israeli official.
“We told the Iranians: We won’t be able to hold Israel back, and we won’t be able to make sure that the next attack will be calibrated and targeted as the previous one,” the U.S. official was quoted as saying.
On Friday, Khamenei’s adviser, Kamal Kharrazi, told the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen outlet that Tehran has the capacity to develop nuclear weapons.
“We now have the technical capabilities necessary to produce nuclear weapons.… Only the supreme leader’s fatwa currently prohibits it,” Kharrazi said in reference to a religious ruling made by Khamenei in the mid-90s against the use of nuclear weapons.
“If the survival of Iran comes under serious threat, we reserve the right to reconsider,” added Kharrazi.
In May, Kharrazi told the ISNA news agency that, “If the Zionist regime dares to damage Iran’s nuclear facilities, our level of deterrence will be different. We have no decision to produce a nuclear bomb, but if the existence of Iran is threatened, we will have to change our nuclear doctrine,” he said.
On Friday, Kharrazi also said that the Islamic Republic would respond to Israel’s aerial attack against Iran 10 days ago at the appropriate time and manner.
According to the Times, Khamenei made that decision after reviewing a report from senior military commanders on the extent of the damage caused by Israeli strikes on Iran’s missile production capabilities and air defense systems, critical energy infrastructure and a main port.
Khamenei was said to have told his associates that the scope of Israel’s unprecedented Oct. 26 retaliatory strikes was “too large to ignore.”
The sources said that military commanders were readying a list of dozens of targets inside the Jewish state, but that the attack would likely occur after the U.S. presidential vote on Nov. 5 due to concern in Tehran that additional tensions in the region could boost former President Donald Trump.
Image: Courtesy JNS article
