Iran is seemingly considering revising its Nuclear Doctrine to stop Israel’s aggression. In other words, the Islamic Republic shall not hesitate to withdraw from its traditional No First Use policy. Ahmad Haghtalab, the Commander in Charge of Iran’s Nuclear Security, told his country’s semi-official Tasnim News Agency on April 18, 2024 that Tehran could review its Nuclear Doctrine amid Israeli threats. He said: “A review of our nuclear doctrine and politics, as well as considerations previously communicated, is entirely possible.” The Commander claimed that the concerned authorities in Tehran would revise the doctrine, as Israel might target the Iranian nuclear power plants and other nuclear infrastructures.

Although the top political leadership of Iran has made no comments on this issue, experts believe that Commander Haghtalab has put the Jewish Nation on high alert. According to the Commander, Iran knows where the Israeli nuclear facilities are located. Tehran shall target them, if the situation deteriorates.

Iran, like Israel, is a nuclear power. However, the Islamic Republic follows certain rules regarding the use of nuclear weapons. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, has played a major role in formulating this policy. The conservative Supreme Leader even issued a fatwa (ruling) against the use of nuclear weapons in the early 21st Century. In 2019, Ayatollah Khamenei stated on numerous occasions that Tehran never pursued making or using nuclear weapons, which its religion forbids. He also said: “We have nuclear technology. But Iran will always avoid it.” However, the West Asian nation has moved away from this position in recent times because of geopolitical reasons.

In 2021, the then Iranian Minister of Intelligence stressed that Tehran was forced to acquire nuclear weapons due to the pressure of Western Powers. Israel, on the other hand, has never officially acknowledged that it has nuclear weapons. Experts are of the opinion that the Jewish Nation, too, has nuclear weapons. On April 13 (2024) midnight, the Iranian Armed Forces launched attacks on Israel with 200 drones and missiles. As Israel has a strong anti-missile defence system thanks to countries like the US and Jordan, it repels about 99% of the Iranian drones and missiles. The Iranian Army official, who was in charge of the attack on Israel, later claimed that they used old weapons in order to avoid causing too much damage to Israel.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister of Iran Hossein Amir-Abdollahian sent a strong message to the UN on April 18 (2024), stating that Iran should give a fitting reply, if Israel violated the sovereignty of his country by launching attacks. President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi, too, warned that Israel’s “tiniest invasion” on his country would be met with a “massive” response. Major Global Powers, including Russia and the US, also urged Israel to show restraint.

Interestingly, Israel launched missile attacks on Iran early on April 19 (2024), ignoring Tehran’s warning. Israel made the move following Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Israel on April 13 in retaliation for an Israeli assault on an Iranian Consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus on April 1. The Iranian state media confirmed that the Israeli missiles hit an airport in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Incidentally, some of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear research and uranium enrichment facilities, including Natanz, are located near Isfahan.

Political analysts have expressed serious concern over the current political development in West Asia, as they believe that the ongoing conflict between nuclear-powered Iran and Israel, which is backed by the US and its Western allies, could trigger a new disaster in the region. Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War on October 7, 2023, Iran has been accused of supporting anti-Israeli armed groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis. As a result, the Israeli Armed Forces attacked various locations in Iran in the past one month.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das