Official Reiterates Significance of Leader’s Fatwa on Prohibition of N. Arms

Secretary General of Iran's High Council for Human Rights Mohammad Javad Larijani on Tuesday reiterated that Tehran is not and has never been after nuclear weapons, saying the country already enjoys security and military might, something that would not be increased by possession of nuclear weapons.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Andreas Schockenhoff, deputy chairman of the Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) parliamentary group in the German Bundestag.

Larijani further touched upon a religious decree (Fatwa) issued by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei that prohibits nuclear weapons, and explained that the Leader’s view on the issue is much more important than “diplomacy and the administration’s policy”.

He described the decree as "the biggest deterrent factor" that averts any move towards possession of nuclear weapons.

Ayatollah Khamenei has on many occasions stressed that the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons is forbidden and the Islamic Republic considers the pursuit and possession of nuclear weapons as a grave sin.

Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian official said Tehran seeks to expand ties with the European countries, particularly Germany, on the basis of mutual respect.

Schockenhoff, for his part, pointed to the long-standing friendship between Iran and Germany, saying Berlin welcomes development of ties with Tehran.

He described his visit to Iran as a bid to prepare the ground for the expansion of bilateral relations in economic and political fields.

Andreas Schockenhoff, 55, is a member of Germany's parliament with the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He has also been Chancellor Angela Merkel's commissioner for German-Russian cooperation since 2006, and he recently became the German coordinator for the civil society working group of the Petersburg Dialogue.