Iran's Nuclear Warning to the US and Israel.

Iran has issued a warning to the US and Israel, its enemies, that if Israel poses a threat to its survival, it may be forced to develop a nuclear weapon.

On Thursday, May 9, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's adviser Kamal Kharrazi stated, "We have no decision to build a nuclear bomb but should Iran's existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine."

As stated by Iran's Student News Network, “In the case of an attack on our nuclear facilities by the Zionist regime, our deterrence will change.”  

The development of nuclear weapons was outlawed in the early 2000s by Khamenei, who has the last say on nuclear projects, in a fatwa, or religious decree, stating that it is "haram," or prohibited in Islam.

However, Iran's intelligence minister at the time stated in 2021 that Western pressure might force the Islamic republic to pursue nuclear weapons.

While weapons-grade uranium is enhanced to approximately 90% purity, Iran is enriching uranium to as high as 60% purity. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has established an official yardstick that states that if the current nuclear material were to be further enriched, it would be sufficient for two nuclear bombs.

After a suspected Israeli strike on Iran's embassy compound in Damascus, the capital of Syria, seven members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including two generals who oversaw the elite Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon, were killed, the conflict between Iran and Israel broke out in the open in April.

Iran launched over 300 missiles and drones in retaliation against Israel.