Is Iran pursuing WMDs for defensive purposes?

Last week, Professor Juan Cole proposed that the intent of Iran’s nuclear program is not bellicose. Rather, the Iranian government is developing a nuclear energy program “which would allow the production of an atomic bomb on short notice if an extreme danger to national autonomy reared its ugly head.”

Among his supports is that the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “gave a fatwa [religious edict] in 2005 that no Islamic state may possess or use atomic weapons.” He also writes that “after exhaustive espionage and investigation that there is no weapons program now and that there hasn't been one for some time.” Both claims sound great. Unfortunately, they’re both misleading.

Regarding the 2005 fatwa:

The Federation of American Scientists noted that no copy of the alleged edict exists. Additionally, other Iranian clerics have publicly supported the development of atomic weapons. Mohsen Gharavian, a well-connected Qom theologian, said that "the spiritual leaders of the extremist [circles in Iran] have accepted the use of nuclear weapons as lawful in the eyes of shari'a [Islamic law].”

On the development of weapons:

In a speech last year, the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Jessica Mathews, said that a 2003 report stating that “Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program,” was seriously misleading, because the nuclear program never ceased. Only the weaponization component was halted, and it could restart at any time. Uranium enrichment—a key ingredient of atomic bombs—never stopped. Mathews also pointed out that the very raison d'être for the program is suspect, as the Russians—who are building nuclear power plants for the Iranians—are under contract to provide the fuel. The Iranians don’t need to enrich anything; the work is being done for them.

Mathews was not making claims on the strategic reasons for the program. (It may be she agrees with Professor Cole.) But she was clear that their goal is weaponization.

If there is a WMD program, is the intent strictly defensive, as Professor Cole believes? Professor Matthias Küntzel has written on the culture of martyrdom that the government has promoted, and the apocalyptic mindset of the current president, some of whose politics are fixated on paving the way for the return of a messianic leader who disappeared over a millennium ago. Consider the following quote from President Ahmadinejad: “Is there an art that is more beautiful, more divine, more eternal than the art of the martyr’s death?”

Let’s say there is a fatwa (And I’d be grateful for a copy if someone has it from a reliable source): While Ayatollah Khamenei is said to be “a resolute Leader with a remarkably consistent and coherent—though highly cynical and conspiratorial—world view,” the information coming out still points to a very worrisome situation.  

Groups like United Against Nuclear Iran are actively pursuing ways to address this threat. They’re a great resource for motivated individuals looking to get involved.