{"id":60470,"date":"2021-02-09T21:28:44","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T21:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2021\/02\/09\/iran-may-pursue-nuclear-weapon-intel-minister-warns-west\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T10:04:20","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T10:04:20","slug":"iran-may-pursue-nuclear-weapon-intel-minister-warns-west","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2021\/02\/09\/iran-may-pursue-nuclear-weapon-intel-minister-warns-west\/","title":{"rendered":"Iran may pursue nuclear weapon, intel minister warns West"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">TEHRAN, Iran \u2014 Iran\u2019s intelligence minister warned the West that his country could push for a nuclear weapon if crippling international sanctions on Tehran remain in place, state television reported Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The remarks by Mahmoud Alavi mark a rare occasion that a government official says Iran could reverse its course on the nuclear program. Tehran has long insisted that the program is for peaceful purposes only, such as power generation and medical research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A 1990s fatwa, or religious edict, by the country\u2019s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei states that nuclear weapons are forbidden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOur nuclear program is peaceful and the fatwa by the supreme leader has forbidden nuclear weapons, but if they push Iran in that direction, then it wouldn\u2019t be Iran\u2019s fault but those who pushed it,\u201d Alavi was quoted as saying. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf a cat is cornered, it may show a kind of behavior that a free cat would not,\u201d he said and added that Iran has no plans to move toward a nuclear weapon under current circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2021\/01\/03\/iran-general-warns-us-military-ready-to-respond-to-pressure\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP21001478772000.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Iran general warns US: Military ready to respond to pressure<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Brig. Gen. Esmail Ghaani, commander of Iran\u2019s expeditionary Quds Force, said at a ceremony Friday that Iran was not afraid of confronting \u201cpowers,\u201d without naming the U.S.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Israel has long accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, and the 2015 nuclear accord between Iran and world powers put strict limits on Iranian nuclear activities to prevent it from reaching weapons capabilities. In exchange, Iran was given sanctions relief. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the deal in 2018, prompting Iran to resume some of its nuclear activities. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defensenews.com\/pentagon\/2020\/11\/07\/where-president-elect-joe-biden-stands-on-national-security-issues\/\" target=_blank>The new Biden administration<\/a> has signaled it would like to revive the deal, raising concerns in Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Israeli military estimates that Iran is still two years away from reaching the capability of producing a bomb. But in a briefing with reporters, a senior military official said the army believes Iran has made \u201csignificant progress\u201d in collecting fissile material and research and development. He said the army is especially concerned about \u201cirreversible\u201d progress, such as the knowledge it has gained from using sophisticated centrifuges. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing an intelligence assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The 81-year-old Khamenei, who has the final say on all matters of state in Iran, on Sunday urged the United States to lift all sanctions if it wants Iran to live up to commitments under its 2015 nuclear deal. However, President Joe Biden has said the U.S. won\u2019t be making the first move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Iran President Hassan Rouhani in comments aired on state TV on Tuesday reiterated the U.S. must first take steps to honor nuclear deal agreements. \u201cAny day that the U.S. resumes implementing its commitments under the nuclear deal, we will fully implement our promises under the deal as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/11\/27\/iran-scientist-linked-to-military-nuclear-program-killed\/\" target=_blank>the killing last December of an Iranian scientist <\/a>credited with spearheading the country\u2019s disbanded military nuclear program, Iran\u2019s parliament has approved a law to block international nuclear inspectors later this month \u2014 a serious violation of the accord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alavi, the intelligence minister, was also quoted as saying that a member of the Iranian armed forces \u201cfacilitated\u201d the killing of the scientist, which Iran has blamed on Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/2019\/06\/04\/what-war-with-iran-could-look-like\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AP_19098471996944.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">What war with Iran could look like<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Military Times interviewed more than a dozen military experts, including current and former U.S. military officials, about how a conflict might begin and how it could play out. This is what they said could happen:<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The minister did not expand on what he meant \u2014 and it was not clear if the soldier had carried out the explosion that killed the scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. Israel, which has been suspected of killing Iranian nuclear scientists over the last decade, has repeatedly declined to comment on the attack. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This was the first time that Iran acknowledged a member of its armed forces may have acted as an accomplice in the killing of Fakhrizadeh, who headed Iran\u2019s so-called AMAD program, which Israel and the West have alleged was a military operation looking at the feasibility of building a nuclear weapon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The International Atomic Energy Agency \u2014 the U.N.\u2019s nuclear watchdog \u2014 says that \u201cstructured program\u201d ended in 2003. U.S. intelligence agencies concurred with that assessment in a 2007 report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In December, Rouhani vowed to avenge Fakhrizadeh\u2019s killing, saying his country will decide time or venue of any retaliatory action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In response to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/11\/17\/report-president-trump-asked-senior-leaders-about-military-options-to-strike-iran\/\" target=_blank>Trump\u2019s so-called \u201cmaximum pressure\u201d campaign<\/a> against Iran, t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-military\/2020\/12\/07\/iran-says-us-got-the-message-on-tense-exchanges-in-persian-gulf-after-navy-admirals-remarks\/\" target=_blank>he country began to gradually violate its atomic commitments <\/a>under the nuclear deal. It also threatened further provocations in a bid to increase its leverage and get Biden to prioritize a return to the deal as he moves to dismantle Trump\u2019s legacy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of those steps, Iran has begun enriching uranium closer to weapons-grade levels and said it would experiment with uranium metals, a key component of a nuclear warhead. Iran insists that all breaches of the pact are easily reversible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><i>Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat in Tehran and Josef Federman in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The remarks by Mahmoud Alavi mark a rare occasion that a government official says Iran could reverse its course on the nuclear 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