Iranian affairs expert: Enriched uranium stockpile is sufficient to produce nuclear bombs, and Khamenei’s fatwa prevents it
Iranian affairs expert: Enriched uranium stockpile is sufficient to produce nuclear bombs, and Khamenei’s fatwa prevents it
2025-06-23 09:05
Shafaq News/ Iranian affairs expert Mohammed Ali al-Hakim revealed on Monday that Tehran possesses a stockpile of enriched uranium “sufficient to produce nuclear bombs,” noting that a fatwa from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei “prohibits” the production of weapons of mass destruction.
In a phone call from Tehran, al-Hakim told Shafaq News Agency, “Iran has a stockpile of 60% enriched uranium, which is enough to produce two nuclear bombs, not to mention the 20% enriched stockpile, which is enough to produce four nuclear bombs.”
However, he pointed out that “there is a religious fatwa from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei prohibiting the production or acquisition of nuclear weapons, as they are weapons of mass destruction. This fatwa constitutes a bulwark against the production of a nuclear bomb.”
Al-Hakim noted that “there is currently popular and political pressure on the Supreme Leader to rescind this fatwa,” suggesting that “it is not unlikely that this matter will change following the US attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.”
He added, “The American strike inside Iranian territory is the first of its kind, both directly and explicitly acknowledged, since the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Therefore, it is not unlikely that America’s involvement could change the rules of engagement between Iran on the one hand, and America and Israel on the other.”
Early Sunday morning, the United States launched an airstrike targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities. For the first time, the US used a special bomb known as the “Mother of All Bombs,” which had never been used before. The bomb is designed to penetrate heavily fortified sites. Each bomb carries a 13-ton warhead and can penetrate fortifications 60 to 80 meters thick. Iran considered this a crossing of red lines, and several Arab, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries condemned the attack.
This development threatens to expand the scope of the war between Israel and Iran, especially after US President Donald Trump announced that the strikes, which he described as “very successful,” hit the Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan sites, with Fordow being the primary target. He threatened that if Iran responded to these strikes by targeting US interests in the region, Washington’s response would be more severe.
It’s worth noting that in 2003, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a religious fatwa “prohibiting” the use of weapons of mass destruction. Two years later, the Iranian government announced this fatwa in an official statement at the International Atomic Energy Agency meeting in Vienna.
shafaq.com
