Fatwa against nuclear weapons

A fatwa by Ali Khamenei, then supreme leader of Iran, against the development of nuclear weapons dates back to the mid-1990s. The first public announcement is reported to have occurred in October 2003, followed by an official statement at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Austria, in August 2005.

Some analysts have questioned either the existence, applicability and/or constancy of the fatwa. According to Mehdi Khalaji, Khamenei may alter his fatwa under critical circumstances, as did his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, on some civil and political issues. According to Gareth Porter writing in Foreign Policy, Iran's aversion to nuclear and chemical weapons is sincere because of the "historical episode during its eight-year war with Iraq", and Iran never sought revenge for Iraqi chemical attacks against Iran, which killed 20,000 Iranians and severely injured 100,000 more. According to Khalaji, the fatwa is also considered to be consistent with Islamic tradition.

As an Istifta'at the policy is included on Khamenei's official website, and was referred to in remarks by both U.S. president Barack Obama and Khamenei himself. In 2021, acknowledging the fatwa, Iranian intelligence minister Esmaeil Khatib said that the country may nevertheless change their stance if "pushed in that direction" like a "cornered cat". During a February 2025 meeting between Khamenei and the IRGC, commanders pressured Khamenei to rescind his ban on nuclear weapons. In March 2025, Khamenei's advisor Ali Larijani said Iran would have no choice but to develop nuclear weapons if attacked by the United States or its allies.