Is Khamenei telling the truth? Well, it is revealing that Iran seems to be moving in precisely the opposite direction from that suggested by his words. Only time will tell. “Iran warns over nuclear impasse,” from CNN, with thanks to Sean:
Western intelligence sources have told CNN that Iran would be five to 10 years from being able to build an atomic weapon, even if it restarted its entire nuclear program today.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a religious decree Thursday declaring the “production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons” to violate the tenets of Islam.
“The leadership of Iran has pledged at the highest level that Iran will remain a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) and has placed the entire scope of its nuclear activities under IAEA safeguards and additional protocol, in addition to undertaking voluntary transparency measures with the agency that have even gone beyond the requirements of the agency’s safeguard system,” Khamenei said in the statement.
Strained relations
But Matthew Boland, a spokesman for the U.S. mission to international organizations, said that Iran’s action Wednesday “is yet another sign of Iran’s disregard for international concerns.”