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Former Iranian diplomat Amir Mousavi said Khamenei might change the fatwa forbidding a military nuclear program in an interview with Russia Today TV that aired on February 1, 2021. He said that the Iranian defense and nuclear programs were based on Supreme Leader Khamenei's fatwa, however, jurisprudents like Khamenei can change a fatwa in accordance with changed circumstances. Mousavi warned that if the Zionist entity, the U.S., or any other party employs "anti-humanity methods," Iran has "many cards up its sleeve." He said that he hopes Iran will not get to that point, because as it is, Iran has enough military power to "put an end to the Zionist entity" without using its nuclear capabilities.
This interview came just a few days after Mousavi made similar remarks (see MEMRI TV clip No. 8650). For more about Khamenei's alleged anti-nuclear fatwa, see MEMRI Inquiry and analysis series Nos. 1478, 1458, 825, 1022 and 1151 and Special Dispatches No. 5406 and 5461. Mousavi was Iran's Cultural Attaché in Algeria, but left in 2018 amid accusations of recruiting Shi'ite Algerians.
Amir Mousavi: "The [Iranian] defense and nuclear systems in their entirety were founded on the basis of [Khamenei's] fatwa, and were not connected to military matters or [weapons of] mass destruction. But I believe that as far as the shari'a is concerned... When Shi'ite scholars of jurisprudence like Imam Khamenei issue a fatwa, it is done because of specific circumstances. If the circumstances change, the fatwa may change as well. This is only natural, because if the Zionist entity, the U.S., or any other party employs other anti-humanity methods, then I believe that Iran has many cards up its sleeve. That card may be the last one. I hope [Iran] will not get to that point, because what Iran has is enough to put an end to the Zionist entity without [Iran] using its nuclear capability."
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