Pezeshkian slams US proposal to trade uranium for sanctions relief
Al Mayadeen | September 27, 2025
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday dismissed what he described as an unacceptable proposal from Washington that would have required Tehran to surrender all its enriched uranium to the United States in exchange for a short-term easing of sanctions.
“Naturally, we did not reach an agreement on the snapback mechanism because the US demands are unacceptable. They want us to transfer all our enriched uranium to them in exchange for three months, and this is by no means acceptable,” Pezeshkian told Iran’s state broadcaster, IRIB.
The Iranian president said the plan would have left Tehran vulnerable to renewed US pressure. “Had Tehran agreed, the US would have presented Iran with new demands or threatened to bring the sanctions back,” he added.
Snapback, Sovereignty, Defiance
Pezeshkian’s comments came as the United Nations prepares to reinstate sanctions on Iran under the so-called “snapback mechanism,” after Western powers blocked Russian and Chinese efforts to delay the move. The reimposition would restore arms embargoes, asset freezes, and restrictions on enrichment, signaling a further breakdown in nuclear diplomacy.
The Iranian leader stressed that his government will continue to withstand Western sanctions by deepening economic and strategic cooperation with BRICS partners and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, noting that Iran will rely on “the pride of the Iranian people and their yearning for independence.”
The stance aligns with the position of Sayyed Ali Khamenei, who this week ruled out any direct negotiations with the United States, calling them “a sheer dead end.” Analysts say this reflects a unified leadership intent on avoiding concessions that could weaken Iran’s deterrence or domestic legitimacy.
Resistance, Retaliation, Resolve
Pezeshkian’s defiance comes amid US concerns over Iran’s reported expansion of underground nuclear facilities near Natanz, where construction has accelerated since the June aggression on Iran, when “Israel” carried out coordinated strikes on Iranian military and nuclear sites under the pretext of halting a clandestine weapons program, a charge Iran categorically denied.
The nearly two-week confrontation drew in the United States after its forces struck Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22, prompting Tehran to retaliate by targeting the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. The escalation raised fears of a regional war before June 23, when US President Donald Trump announced that “Israel” and Iran had reached a ceasefire, ending what he described as “the 12-day war.”
Observers say Pezeshkian’s remarks reflect Iran’s determination not to trade its sovereignty or nuclear achievements for fleeting concessions, as Tehran shifts toward non-Western alliances and hardens its position against US-Israeli pressure. His message serves both as a rejection of coercive diplomacy and as a signal of Iran’s intent to pursue strategic autonomy in the face of revived sanctions and renewed isolation attempts.
Iran’s FM addresses UN Security Council on failed Russia-China draft resolution
Global Times | September 27, 2025
The UN Security Council has voted down an effort by China and Russia to extend sanctions relief to Iran for six months under the nuclear deal – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Friday, local time. The draft failed to be passed as the number of votes in favor did not reach nine.
In his speech, Iran’s Foreign Minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, began by thanking China, Russia, Pakistan, and Algeria for supporting the resolution, which he described as a genuine effort to “keep the door of diplomacy open and avoid confrontation.” He also welcomed the decision of Guyana and South Korea not to oppose the draft, calling it a stand “on the right side of history,” according to WANA News, an Iranian news agency.
The Iranian foreign minister argued, “Today’s situation is the direct consequence of the US withdrawal from the JCPOA and the E3 (France, United Kingdom and Germany) failure to take any effective action to uphold the commitments.”
“The US has betrayed diplomacy, but it is the E3 which have buried it,” he stressed. Araghchi also said, “The E3 and the US acted in bad faith, claiming to support diplomacy while in effect blocking it.”
“Regrettably, E3 chose to follow Washington’s whims rather than exercising their independent sovereign discretion,” he said, adding “the US persistent negation of all initiatives to keep the window for diplomacy open proved once again that negotiations with the United States lead to nowhere other than dead end,” the foreign minister added.
Geng Shuang, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations spoke after the vote. He reminded the Council that “history has shown that resorting to force or applying maximum pressure is not the correct approach to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue,” according to the UN report.
Geng continued, “Against the backdrop of ongoing conflict in Gaza and the instability in the Middle East, a breakdown in the Iranian nuclear issue could trigger new regional security crisis, which runs counter to common interest of the international community.”
The Chinese diplomat urged the US to “demonstrate political will by responding positively to Iran’s proposal to resume talks and committing unequivocally to refrain from further military strikes against Iran.”
US, allies veto draft resolution on delaying ‘snapback’ of Iran sanctions
Press TV – September 26, 2025
The United States and its allies veto a draft resolution aimed at delaying “snapback” of the UN Security Council’s sanctions against Iran that were lifted in 2015 in line with a nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world countries.
On Friday, the US, the UK, France, Denmark, Greece, Panama, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, and Somalia vetoed the draft measure seeking to delay imposition of the coercive economic measures for six months.
China, Russia, Algeria, and Pakistan voted in favor of the measure that had been submitted by Beijing and Moscow. South Korea and Guyana abstained.
According to the UN, “The so-called ‘snapback’ mechanism [now] remains in force, which will see sanctions rei-imposed on Tehran this weekend, following the termination of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).”
JCPOA refers to the official name of the nuclear deal that upon conclusion was endorsed by the Security Council in the form of its Resolution 2231.
The agreement lifted the sanctions, which had been imposed on Iran by the Security Council and the US, the UK, France, and Germany over unfounded allegations concerning Tehran’s peaceful nuclear energy program.
The bans had been enforced against the nation, despite the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)’s having historically failed to find any proof of “diversion” of the nuclear program.
The US left the JCPOA in an illegal and unilateral move in 2018 and then re-imposed those of its sanctions that the deal had removed.
In 2020, Washington went further by trying unilaterally to trigger the “snapback.”
After the American withdrawal, the UK, France, and Germany too resorted to non-commitment vis-à-vis the Islamic Republic by stopping their trade with Tehran.
The Friday vote came after the trio launched their own bid to activate the “snapback” on August 28.
The allies have been rehashing their accusations concerning Iran’s nuclear energy activities in order to try to justify their bid to reenact the sanctions, ignoring absence of any proof provided by the IAEA that has subjected the Islamic Republic to the agency’s most intrusive inspections in history.
They have also constantly refused to accept their numerous instances of non-commitment to the JCPOA.
Iran, however, began observing an entire year of “strategic patience” following the US’s withdrawal – the first serious violation of the nuclear agreement – before retaliating incrementally in line with its legal right that has been enshrined in the deal itself.
In the meantime, the Islamic Republic has both voiced its preparedness to partake in dialog besides actually engaging in negotiation aimed at resolving the situation brought about by the Western allies’ intransigence.
Tehran refused to categorically rule out talks with the European troika even after illegal and unprovoked attacks by the Israeli regime and the United States against key Iranian nuclear facilities in June, which made it impossible for the IAEA to continue its inspections as before.
The Islamic Republic’s latest goodwill gesture came on September 9, when it signed a framework agreement with the IAEA aimed at resuming cooperation with the agency, which had been suspended following the attacks.
The Friday vote came, although, Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, and security chief Ali Larijani, had strongly warned the US and its allies against triggering the “snapback.”
Araghchi had cautioned that such vote would lead to termination of the agreement with the IAEA, while Pezeshkian had noted that talks would be “meaningless” if the mechanism were to be enacted.
Meeting with anti-war activists in New York on Thursday, the president had called the prospect of re-imposition of the sanctions unwelcome, but added that the coercive measures did not signal “the end of the road.”
“Iran will never submit to them,” he had said, referring to the bans, and added that the Islamic Republic “will find the means of exiting any [unwelcome] situation.”
China voices ‘deep regret,’ discourages renewed aggression
Reacting to the vote, China’s Deputy UN Ambassador Geng Shuang similarly expressed “deep regret” for the failure to adopt the draft resolution, identifying dialogue and negotiation as two of “the only viable options” out of the situation caused by the Western measures.
He urged the US “to demonstrate political will” and “commit unequivocally to refraining from further military strikes against Iran.”
Geng further called on the European trio to engage in good faith in diplomatic efforts and abandon their approach of pushing for sanctions and coercive pressure against Iran.
Russia slams US, allies for lack of ‘courage, wisdom’
The remarks were echoed by Geng’s Russian counterpart Dmitry Polyanskiy, who said, “We regret the fact that a number of Security Council colleagues were unable to summon the courage or the wisdom to support our draft.”
“We had hoped that European colleagues and the US would think twice, and they would opt for the path of diplomacy and dialogue instead of their clumsy blackmail,” he said.
Such approach, the diplomat added, “merely results in escalation of the situation in the region.”
Speaking before the vote, Polyanskiy had also told the chamber that Iran had done all it could to accommodate Europeans, but that Western powers had refused to compromise.
How pro-Israel money captured Starmer’s Labour
By Nasim Ahmed | MEMO | September 26, 2025
The UK Labour Party has been rocked by yet another scandal and is facing scrutiny over revelations that its leadership has been captured by a network of unelected funders and lobbyists with deep ties to Israel and Zionist organisations.
At the centre of the controversy is Morgan McSweeney, Keir Starmer’s powerful chief of staff, and his long-time association with billionaire businessman Trevor Chinn. Documents and leaks show that between 2017 and 2020, McSweeney oversaw Labour Together, a factional project that secretly accepted more than £730,000 (around $930,000) in undeclared donations, allegedly in breach of electoral law.
Much of this money is said to have come from Chinn, a figure whose involvement in Labour politics has for decades been bound up with the defence of Israel and the advancement of Zionist networks inside the party.
Chinn is no ordinary donor. A director of Labour Together until 2024, he has bankrolled both Conservative and Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) throughout his career. In early 2025, he was awarded the Israeli Presidential Medal of Honour by President Isaac Herzog for his services to the apartheid state. Chinn’s commitment to Israel has been described as one of his “animating concerns” over three decades of political donations.
An investigation by Jody McIntyre, who stood as a candidate for the Workers Party in the last general election, shows how deeply enmeshed Chinn became with McSweeney’s project. McSweeney reportedly concealed donations “to protect Trevor” from scrutiny, according to McIntyre’s investigation. Labour Together, however, later dismissed the failure to declare the funds as an “administrative error,” a line advised by solicitor Gerald Shamash, another Labour figure with a record of blocking debates on sanctions against Israel.
Chinn’s influence was not limited to donations. According to minutes of a 2020 meeting revealed by Electronic Intifada, Chinn and five other lobbyists set up a “regular channel of communication” with Labour MP Steve Reed, a close ally of McSweeney and vocal supporter of LFI. The leaked record illustrates the extent to which pro-Israel lobbyists were embedded in Labour’s factional leadership project.
McSweeney’s own ties to Zionism go back further than his dealings with Chinn. In his youth, he spent time living on Sarid, a Zionist settlement built on the ruins of the Palestinian village of Ikhneifis. There, he is said to have become closely acquainted with Hashomer Hatza’ir, a Zionist movement that played a central role in Israel’s settler-colonial project.
McIntyre’s research and internal documents allege that McSweeney campaigned for Steve Reed—who is known to have received funding from LFI for travel to occupied Palestine—and later worked closely with Margaret Hodge, a self-declared Zionist. Some sources also suggest McSweeney oversaw Liz Kendall’s 2015 leadership run, during which she made public statements against boycotts and sanctions of Israel—though the precise nature and funding of these campaigns remain under investigation.
By 2017, McSweeney was director of Labour Together, where Chinn sat on the board. Internal documents revealed that the group’s work included secret projects to undermine Jeremy Corbyn by inflaming the anti-Semitism crisis, planting hostile media stories, and fracturing the party’s left wing.
McSweeney, according to Double Down News, even devised a covert strategy dubbed Operation Red Shield, aimed at “burning down” Corbyn’s Labour in order to capture the party for a pro-business, pro-Israel faction.
The secret funding allowed McSweeney to commission hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of polling into the Labour membership. This research shaped Starmer’s leadership campaign, presenting him as a “unity” candidate who pledged to uphold policies such as public ownership and a Green New Deal.
However, once elected, Starmer rapidly U-turned on those commitments, dropping all ten of his leadership pledges. The sequence of events suggests that Starmer’s campaign positions were adopted to secure victory rather than to be implemented in government.
Starmer’s subsequent record confirmed that pattern of deception. Within months of becoming leader, he ditched all ten of his leadership pledges and moved Labour sharply to the right. On Palestine, Starmer has repeatedly echoed Israeli government narratives, refusing to condemn the genocide while expelling Labour members who criticised Israel.
While Trevor Chinn is central to this latest scandal, he is not the only pro-Israel donor bankrolling Labour. Since Starmer’s election, the party has increasingly relied on wealthy businessmen with strong ties to Zionist organisations.
One of these is Gary Lubner, the South African-born former CEO of Autoglass, who has donated more than £5 million ($6.3 million) to Labour. Lubner’s family fortune was built during apartheid South Africa, when his father and uncle were accused of helping to bust international sanctions.
Today, Lubner is a major supporter of the United Jewish Israel Appeal, a fundraising arm for Israeli causes. His son Jack is active in the Jewish Labour Movement and other pro-Israel networks.
Lubner’s uncle Bertie was a major donor to Ben-Gurion University, an institution identified by human rights groups as complicit in Israel’s apartheid system. Under Starmer’s leadership, Labour has drawn heavily on donations from pro-Israel businessmen such as Lubner, underlining the party’s financial dependence on figures with strong political and financial ties to Israel.
The cumulative effect of these revelations is stark: Labour under Starmer has been captured by a narrow, unrepresentative network of pro-Israel donors and lobbyists. Their influence was decisive in undermining Corbyn’s leadership, installing Starmer, and silencing members who demanded a just policy on Palestine.
As Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed more than 68,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, the Labour government has aligned itself with Israeli war crimes—refusing to halt arms sales, authorising surveillance flights over Gaza and granting Israel political cover on the international stage.
Labour’s latest scandal is not simply about undeclared donations. It speaks to the hollowing out of democracy inside Labour and its subordination to interests directly tied to the Israeli state. Decisions in Labour today are shaped less by members or voters than by figures like McSweeney, Chinn and Lubner—unelected operators whose record and affiliations show a consistent commitment to defending Israel, often over the views of party members.
Tucker Carlson Reveals What Shocked Him While Making 9/11 Docuseries
Glenn Greenwald | September 24, 2025
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Washington escalates pressure on Iraq to ‘detach from Iran’: Report
The Cradle | September 24, 2025
The US has escalated its pressure on Iraq to “disengage from Iran” in recent weeks, senior Iraqi officials were cited as saying by Al-Araby al-Jadeed on 24 September.
“These measures go beyond the issue of armed factions and their advanced weaponry, and include reforms to the judiciary and financial sectors to ensure greater independence from the influence of groups allied with Iran,” the sources said.
One official said Washington has also demanded legal action against leaders of Iraqi resistance groups.
No specific names were given, yet Washington has sanctions imposed on a number of resistance leaders, including Qais al-Khazali of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq movement.
The pressure includes “the banking sector, where public and private banks have been subjected to a US oversight mechanism aimed at preventing Iran from exploiting the Iraqi financial system.”
“The Iraqi financial sector, both public and private, is now under near-total oversight by the US Treasury to ensure that Iran or its affiliates do not benefit from the Iraqi financial system. All financial transfers from Iraq abroad pass through intermediary banks in Jordan and the UAE, as part of current US oversight measures,” an Iraqi diplomat told the outlet.
“Dissolving armed groups” or integrating them into the state’s army is also on the list of US demands.
The Coordination Framework (CF), a political coalition of Shia parties aligned with and including several Iran-backed resistance factions, views the pressure as a potential green light for Israel to strike targets inside Iraq, according to the report.
Last week, the US officially designated four resistance groups as terrorist organizations: Al-Nujaba Movement, Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada, Ansar Allah al-Awfiya Movement, and Kataib al-Imam Ali.
The US State Department said it was part of Washington’s “maximum pressure on Iran.”
In recent months, the US has also been pressuring Baghdad on the issue of the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) draft law.
The law was signed into legislation in 2016 and institutionalized the PMU, a coalition of armed factions, some of which previously fought ISIS and resisted the 2003 US invasion of the country. The law integrated the organization, formed in 2014, into Iraq’s military structure.
A new draft law was introduced earlier this year, aiming to replace the 2016 law and further institutionalize the PMU into the Iraqi state with comprehensive regulation, including a mandatory retirement age and clearer administrative structure.
The law would also transform the PMU into a fully independent security institution directly under the country’s prime minister.
Among the groups represented in the PMU are Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib Ahl al-Haq, and the Al-Nujaba Movement – Iran-linked resistance factions involved in the attacks on US bases in Iraq and Syria, which began after the start of the Gaza genocide and ended months later with the help of Iraqi government pressure.
The US has slammed the draft law, calling it the “institutionalization of Iranian influence” in Iraq.
Last year, the US launched heavy strikes on Kataib Hezbollah sites in Iraq in response to the killing of three soldiers in a drone strike on a US military base on the Syria–Jordan border.
Washington has reportedly threatened renewed attacks against Iraq if resistance factions linked to Iran are not disarmed.
Ex-CIA chief Petraeus hails former Al-Qaeda leader for ‘clear vision’ in Syria
The Cradle | September 23, 2025
Self-appointed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa engaged in a wide-ranging dialogue on 22 September with former CIA director David Petraeus as part of his visit to New York.
Sharaa, a former Al-Qaeda commander, met Petraeus, who commanded troops in Iraq after the 2003 invasion, at the Concordia Summit on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. They discussed issues facing Syria, including reconstruction, governance, economic sanctions, and regional relations.
“We faced massive destruction over the past years, but we are focusing on economic development and building capabilities,” Sharaa stated.
“Syrians by nature are people of work and trade. So please lift the sanctions and see what we can do,” he added, referring to the 2019 US Caesar Act, which imposed crushing economic sanctions on Syria, impoverishing millions.
US President Donald Trump removed some sanctions earlier this year, but Congress must authorize their permanent removal.
Petraeus said that the conversation with the former Al-Qaeda in Iraq commander “has filled me with enormous hope.”
“Your vision is powerful and clear. Your demeanor is very impressive as well … We obviously hope for your success, Inshallah, because at the end of the day, your success is our success,” Petraeus added.
Though Sharaa was deemed a terrorist by the US State Department in 2012, the CIA covertly provided arms and funding to the Al-Qaeda affiliate he founded in Syria, then known as the Nusra Front.
According to journalist Seymour Hersh, Petraeus established a “rat line” between Libya and Syria to send weapons to the Nusra Front and other extremist groups seeking to topple the government of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.
The CIA operation, known as Timber Sycamore, enjoyed a budget of over $1 billion per year. The operation finally allowed Sharaa to oust Assad and establish an extremist Islamic state over Syria in December.
According to former French intelligence officer and political analyst Thierry Meyssan, Petraeus continued to help fund Al-Qaeda groups, including ISIS, after he was forced to resign from the CIA in 2012 after a sex scandal.
Meyssan says that Petraeus joined the private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR), headed by Jewish billionaire Henry Kravis, which funded the Nusra Front and ISIS on behalf of the CIA in an off-the-books manner.
Addressing Israel’s war on Gaza, Sharaa dismissed speculation about Syria joining the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel.
He claimed the destruction of Gaza has made any broad normalization with Israel impossible, but said limited security arrangements could be considered.
Before Sharaa’s trip to New York, Syrian and Israeli officials were carrying out security talks that would allow Israel to maintain control of the strategic Mount Hermon, establish a no-fly zone over the south of the country, and prevent Syrian forces from entering a demilitarized zone in the south.
In a personal question, Petraeus asked how Sharaa manages the pressure of leading a country after years of conflict.
“I spent 25 of my 43 years in conflict and crisis, so I am used to hardship. Decisions that carry the destiny of a nation must be taken with calm and an open mind.”
Sharaa first traveled to Iraq to join Al-Qaeda after the 2003 invasion and was known for dispatching suicide bombers to kill civilians. He was allegedly arrested by US forces in 2005 and sent to the US prison at Camp Bucca.
After his release in 2009, he became the Emir of the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) in Mosul, before traveling to Syria to establish the Nusra Front in 2011 on the instructions of Islamic State (later ISIS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.
Ayatollah Khamenei rejects talks with US, warns of ‘serious, irreparable harms’
Press TV – September 23, 2025
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has rejected Washington’s demands over nuclear negotiations, saying that accepting talks under threat is something “no honorable nation would ever do, and no wise statesman would ever endorse.”
Speaking in a televised address to the nation on Tuesday, Ayatollah Khamenei said negotiations with Washington under the current circumstances would bring “no benefit” to Iran and instead carry “serious and possibly irreparable harms.”
“Accepting negotiations under such threats would mean that the Islamic Republic of Iran is susceptible to intimidation.”
“If we were to negotiate under such threats, it would mean that we tremble and surrender whenever threatened,” the Leader said.
“If such susceptibility to threats were established, it would never end. Today, they say: if you enrich, we will do this. Tomorrow they will say: if you have missiles, we will do that … There would be endless threats, forcing us to retreat step by step.”
Ayatollah Khamenei said the United States is predetermining the outcome of any dialogue, and that Washington’s demands amount to dictation rather than negotiation.
“They have announced that the only acceptable result of negotiations is the shutdown of Iran’s nuclear activities and enrichment. So, we would sit at the table, and the outcome of the talks would be exactly what they had dictated in advance.”
“That is not negotiation,” the Leader stated, “that is dictation, that is imposition.”
“To negotiate with a party where the result must necessarily be what they want, and what they say; is that negotiation?”
The Leader pointed to recent American calls for Iran to abandon not only long-range but even short-range missiles.
The aim of such demands, Ayatollah Khamenei said, was to render Iran so weak and defenseless that it could not respond in any form if attacked.
Trump scrambles to contain fallout from Israeli crime spree with meeting in New York
MEMO | September 22, 2025
President Donald Trump is set to host a high-level meeting with a select group of Arab and Muslim leaders on Tuesday in New York to discuss the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. The summit, to be held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, comes as Western governments declared their recognition of the State of Palestine and amid growing international condemnation of Israel’s war crimes.
Two Arab officials confirmed to Axios that leaders from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey have been invited to the closed-door meeting, which will take place at 2:30pm Eastern Time.
The summit is expected to precede Trump’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, scheduled for 29 September at the White House. Sources familiar with the preparations said Arab leaders will call on Trump to pressure Netanyahu to end the assault on Gaza and to abandon plans to annex the illegally occupied West Bank.
Washington’s agenda reportedly includes a proposal for Arab and Muslim countries to contribute to a post-war stabilisation plan in Gaza, including potential troop deployments to replace the Israeli occupation forces. However, such proposals are expected to meet resistance unless a political framework guaranteeing Palestinian sovereignty is agreed.
Trump is also expected to hold a second meeting on Tuesday with leaders of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), including Oman, Bahrain and Kuwait, to address broader regional concerns including Israel’s escalation in the region.
The unprovoked attack on Doha two weeks ago by Israel was met was global condemnation. Qatar reportedly demanded an apology before the resumption of negotiations.
Israel’s strike triggered an emergency summit of Arab and Muslim countries in Doha, and was swiftly followed by a new Saudi-Pakistani security pact—widely interpreted as a response to growing doubts about Washington’s reliability as a security guarantor in the Gulf.
Israeli intransigence is also threatening to unravel the hallmark foreign policy initiative of Trump’s previous presidency: the so-called Abrahm Accords. The UAE has reportedly warned that any annexation of the West Bank could lead to the collapse of the agreement which saw a number of Arab states normalise ties with the occupation state. The White House has not issued an official statement in response to the reports.
Iranian parliament pushes for ‘nuclear option’ as deterrence to western threat
The Cradle | September 22, 2025
Over 70 members of Iran’s parliament on 22 September called for a reassessment of the country’s defense doctrine, pressing authorities to consider nuclear weapons as a deterrent.
In a letter addressed to the Supreme National Security Council and the heads of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, the lawmakers demanded that the issue be raised urgently.
“We respectfully request that, since the decisions of that council acquire validity with the endorsement of the Leader of the Revolution, this matter be raised without delay and the expert findings communicated to the parliament,” the statement read.
The MPs argued that while the development and use of nuclear arms contradicts the 2010 ‘fatwa’ of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei banning them, circumstances have changed.
They wrote that “developing and maintaining such weapons as a deterrent is another matter,” stressing that “in Shia jurisprudence, a change in circumstances and conditions can alter the ruling.”
“Moreover, safeguarding Islam – which today is bound to the preservation of the Islamic Republic – is among the paramount obligations.”
The push was led by Hassan-Ali Akhlaghi Amiri, a representative from the holy city of Mashhad, according to Hamshahri Online.
Lawmakers noted that the nuclear doctrine was shaped at a time when the international community was still able to restrain Israeli aggression.
They pointed to the large-scale assault launched by Israel in June, backed by the US, which included direct strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities, among them Fordow.
Iran has long stated its nuclear program is peaceful, rejecting western claims it seeks weapons capability. Tehran continues to cite Khamenei’s fatwa as proof of its intentions.
At the same time, the Supreme National Security Council announced the suspension of cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after the UN Security Council imposed sanctions.
State media quoted the body as saying the move was a response to the “ill-considered steps of three European countries.”
Lawmakers warned that pressure tactics by the E3 countries will draw a “harsher and more decisive” response than before.

