A few hours after Iran made a rare hint at its technical capacity to build a nuclear bomb, Mohammad Javad Larijani, a former high-ranking official and one of the Larijani brothers who have long been influential regime insiders, said that if Iran wants to build a nuclear bomb “no one can stop it.”
Israel’s military chief, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, maintained that his country was preparing for a military response to Iran’s nuclear program.
Speaking on a TV program in Tehran on Sunday, Larijani referred to a Fatwa by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei against producing weapons of mass destruction.
“We do not have permission to pursue weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, but if at some point we decide to do it naturally no one can prevent us,” said Larijani.
Larijani also underestimated the possibility of eliminating Iran's nuclear capabilities by bombing uranium enrichment facilities.
Hours before Larijani’s remarks on television, Kamal Kharrazi, Khamenei’s top foreign policy adviser said: “It is no secret that we have the technical capabilities to manufacture a nuclear bomb, but we have no decision to do so.”
Kharrazi’s statements represented a rare indication that Iran might be interested in acquiring nuclear weapons, despite previous Iranian denials of the possibility of changing the course of its nuclear program.
“Within a few days we were able to enrich uranium to up to 60 %, and we can easily produce uranium enriched to 90 %... Iran has the technical means to make a nuclear bomb; But it has not yet made a decision to make it,” said Kharrazi.
Meanwhile, Kochavi said Sunday that preparing a military option against Iran is a moral duty and an urgent national security matter.
“Preparing the home front for war has been an important issue since the inception of the state, but it has become increasingly important over the years,” Kochavi said Sunday during a speech at a military ceremony.
“This is a task that must be accelerated in the coming years, especially in view of the possibility that we will be required to act against a nuclear threat, and it should be part of the intensive preparations we are advancing for the moment of truth.”
Kochavi said “preparing a military option against the Iranian nuclear program is a moral imperative and a national security order.”
He revealed that such plans are “at the center” of the army's preparations, which include “a variety of operational plans, the allocation of resources, the acquisition of appropriate weapons, intelligence and training.”
