More Iranians Want a Nuclear Bomb Now Than Before the War: NYT
Clerics and officials increasingly advocate nuclear weapons after U.S. and Israeli attacks, as a senior security figure says leaders are discussing doctrine, but no new decision has been made.
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Calls for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons are gaining ground among clerics and political figures after wars with the United States and Israel, bringing a once-fringe position into mainstream debate.
The shift comes as Iranian leaders pursue diplomacy to avert renewed fighting.
Mohsen Rezaei, the country’s top national security figure, said on state television that leaders were discussing whether to retain their prewar nuclear doctrine if another war breaks out.
“No new decision has been made yet,” he said.
Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program serves peaceful purposes.
The late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious decree prohibiting the development and use of nuclear weapons, binding institutions including the military and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Clerics Push for a Change
Friday prayer leaders have become prominent advocates of reversing that position, The New York Times reported.
In Kuhdasht, western Iran, Ali Sepahvand called for nuclear weapons to confront the United States, according to a widely distributed video cited by the Times.
At prayers in Tehran, Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari described changing nuclear doctrine as a national demand.
When congregants responded with a longstanding slogan defending nuclear energy, he told them the debate had moved beyond it.
Mohammad Ali Shabani, editor of regional news site Amwaj.media, said the clerical interventions had removed a religious barrier to discussing nuclear weapons.
Whether political or strategic change would follow remained uncertain, he said.
Analysts cited by the Times said Khamenei had sought deterrence through ambiguity without acquiring a bomb.
That approach failed to prevent two wars beginning in June 2025, including the conflict in which he was killed in February.
Treaty Withdrawal Gains Advocates
Calls to leave the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons have also grown since the 2025 attacks.
Tehran-based foreign affairs expert Mohammad Ghaderi argued that withdrawal, previously a minority position within the leadership, was becoming a majority view.
Omid Memarian, an analyst at Washington-based research group DAWN, suggested the nuclear debate could also serve as negotiating pressure while Qatar mediates between Washington and Tehran.
President Masoud Pezeshkian and former President Hassan Rouhani continue to support Iran’s peaceful nuclear doctrine.
Former diplomat Kourosh Ahmadi warned in reformist newspaper Shargh that pro-weapons statements could undermine officials trying to prevent another war.
Pursuing a bomb could increase the risk of attack before Iran managed to build one, he argued.
Sina Toossi of the Center for International Policy told the Times that further U.S. attacks could strengthen arguments for the weapons Washington seeks to prevent.
Ahmet Koçak
Ahmet Koçak is a news editor at Clash Report based in Istanbul. He previously served as Deputy Managing Editor at Türkiye Today, helping launch the digital news platform in 2023, and spent three years as Senior Editor at Daily Sabah. His work focuses on breaking news, geopolitics, international affairs, and digital journalism.
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