MEMRI : Renewed Iran-West Nuclear Talks Part II: Tehran Attempts to Deceive
U.S. President Obama, Sec'y of State Clinton With Nonexistent Anti-Nuclear
Weapons Fatwa By Supreme Leader Khamenei
MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis |825|April 19, 2012
Renewed Iran-West Nuclear Talks – Part II: Tehran Attemptsto Deceive U.S.
President Obama, Sec'y of State Clinton With Nonexistent Anti-Nuclear
Weapons Fatwa By Supreme Leader Khamenei
By: A.Savyon and Y. Carmon*
Introduction
An important element in the renewal of nuclear negotiations with Iran in the
talks in Istanbul April 13-14, 2012 was an alleged fatwa attributed to
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, according to which the production,
stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are forbidden under Islam and that
the Islamic Republic of Iran shall never acquire these weapons. Indeed, U.S.
leaders – among them Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and even U.S.
President Barack Obama – along with 5+1 representatives to the talks, the
International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors, and even highly
respected research institutes considered the fatwa as an actual fact, and
examined its significance and implications for the nuclear negotiations with
Iran that began in Istanbul.
However, an investigation by MEMRI reveals that no such fatwa ever existed
or was ever published, and that media reports about it are nothing more than
a propaganda ruse on the part of the Iranian regime apparatuses – in an
attempt to deceive top U.S. administration officials and the others
mentioned above.
Iranian regime officials' presentation of statements on nuclear weapons
attributed to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a fatwa, or religious edict,
when no such fatwa existed or was issued by him, is a propaganda effort to
propose to the West a religiously valid substitute for concrete guarantees
of inspectors' access to Iran's nuclear facilities. Since the West does not
consider mere statements, by Khamenei or by other regime officials, to be
credible, the Iranian regime has put forth a fraudulent fatwa that the West
would be more inclined to trust.
This paper will review Iran's attempt at deception with regard to the
existence of such a fatwa.
U.S. Officials Laud Nonexistent Fatwa
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton clarified that she had discussed the
fatwa with "experts and religious scholars" and also with Turkish Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. At the NATO conference in Norfolk, VA, in
early April, she stated: "The other interesting development which you may
have followed was the repetition by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei
that they would – that he had issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons,
against weapons of mass destruction. Prime Minister Erdogan and I discussed
this at some length, and I’ve discussed with a number of experts and
religious scholars. And if it is indeed a statement of principle, of values,
then it is a starting point for being operationalized, which means that it
serves as the entryway into a negotiation as to how you demonstrate that it
is indeed a sincere, authentic statement of conviction [emphasis added]. So
we will test that as well."
During his visit to Tehran in late March, in an interview with Iranian state
television IRIB, Prime Minister Erdogan said, "I have shared the Leader's
[Khamenei's] statement with [U.S. President Barack] Obama and told him that
in face of this assertion I do not have a different position and they
(Iranians) are using nuclear energy peacefully."
On April 7, 2012, Kayhan International reported, citing Press TV, that
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had told the Turkish Kanal D TV
that there is no possibility that "Khamenei's fatwa forbidding the
possession and use of nuclear weapons might be disobeyed in Iran." According
to the report, Davutoglu "said that since the fatwa against the possession
and pursuit of nuclear weapons was issued by Velayat-e Faqih (the rule of
the jurisprudent), it is binding, and obeying it is a religious obligation."
Also according to the report, also citing Press TV, Khamenei said on
February 22, 2012: "There is no doubt that the decision makers in the
countries opposing us know well that Iran is not after nuclear weapons
because the Islamic Republic, logically, religiously and theoretically,
considers the possession of nuclear weapons a grave sin and believes the
proliferation of such weapons is senseless, destructive and dangerous."
The report went on to state that "Davutoglu also said that if the Western
powers are really interested in interacting with the Middle Eastern states,
they should deepen their understanding of religious discourse, adding that
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had previously instructed U.S.
President Barack Obama on the issue."
American Iranian Council (AIC) president and dual Iranian-U.S. citizen
Hooshang Amirahmadi, who is close to elite regime circles in Iran, said:
"Fortunately, President Obama has decided to tentatively trust the Supreme
Leader on his words that '[the] nuclear bomb is forbidden in Islam.'"
However, MEMRI's investigation reveals that no such fatwa ever existed or
was ever issued or published, and that media reports about it are nothing
more than a propaganda ruse on the part of the Iranian regime apparatuses –
in an attempt to deceive top U.S. administration officials and the others
mentioned above.
What does exist are Iranian reports starting in 2005, on statements by an
Iranian representative, Sirus Naseri, at a meeting of the IAEA Board of
Governors on August 11, 2005 that Khamenei had issued such a fatwa (See
Appendix II for documents.)
After 2005, there are additional statements by senior regime representatives
about the existence of the fatwa, for example on April 12, 2012 by Foreign
Minister Ali Akbar Salehi in an op-ed in the Washington Post on the eve of
the talks. He wrote: "We have strongly marked our opposition to weapons of
mass destruction on many occasions. Almost seven years ago, Iranian Supreme
Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made a binding commitment. He issued a
religious edict – a fatwa – forbidding the production, stockpiling and use
of nuclear weapons."
Also, the Iranian news agency Mehr reported on April 11, 2012, that Iranian
judiciary head Ayatollah Sadeq Amoli Larijani had said: "The fatwa that the
Supreme Leader has issued is the best guarantee that Iran will never seek to
produce nuclear weapons." Mehr itself also noted in the same report that
Khamenei had issued a fatwa banning the use of nuclear weapons: "Supreme
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has issued a
fatwa declaring that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons
are all haram (prohibited in Islam)."
In contrast, a review published April 8, 2012 by Iran's official news agency
IRNA giving in detail Supreme Leader Khamenei's past mentions of the ban on
the use of nuclear weapons does not mention any fatwa by him. This, even
though in August 2005 IRNA had already reported that Iran's special
representative to the IAEA Board of Directors had handed a report on
Khamenei's alleged fatwa, and that this report – though not the fatwa
itself – had been submitted to the IAEA board as an official Iranian
document (see Appendix II). It should be noted that this August 2005 IRNA
report on the fatwa was reported by other websites, such as mathaba.net but
that the original report in IRNA, at
http://www.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-236/0508104135124631.htm , can no
longer be accessed (see Appendix III).
These reports were designed to, and apparently did, elevate Iran's status
vis-à-vis the West, despite Iran's refusal to allow inspections of its
nuclear sites. Iranian regime officials' presentation of statements on
nuclear weapons attributed to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as a fatwa, or
religious edict, when no such fatwa existed or was issued by him, is a
propaganda effort to propose to the West a religiously valid substitute for
concrete guarantees of inspectors' access to Iran's nuclear facilities.
Since the West does not consider mere statements, by Khamenei or by other
regime officials, to be credible, the Iranian regime has put forth a
fraudulent fatwa that the West would be more inclined to trust.
No Such Fatwa On Official Websites of Supreme Leader
An exhaustive search of the various official websites of Iranian Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei turned up no such fatwa, either on his fatwa website or
on his personal website. (for images, see Appendix I).
Khamenei's websites post fatwas issued by him in response to questions
submitted to him. Online submission of questions is an accepted and official
means; all his websites offer readers options for doing so. Fatwas are
issued by jurisprudents in standard question-and-answer format, and are
published publicly in writing. They can also include the reasoning behind
them, but not always. Today, fatwas are generally concise and limited to a
yes or no answer – but always in question-and-answer form, including a
summary by the jurisprudent, as follows: "I was asked a question on a
certain matter. My answer is such and such." This can be seen in the
following.
On March 15, 2012, the following question on the possession and use of
nuclear weapons and referring to the alleged fatwa was submitted to Supreme
Leader Khamenei, via Facebook, by a group called The Light of Freedom
(Cheragh-e Azadi): (for images, see Appendix I).
"Q: Your Excellency has announced a ban on the use of nuclear weapons, and
considering that nuclear weapons are a requirement for deterrence and that
the aim of obtaining them is to intimidate the enemies in order to prevent
them from acting aggressively, and in light of what is written in Surat
Al-Anfal, Verse 60... is it also forbidden to obtain nuclear weapons, as per
your ruling that their use is prohibited?
"A: Your letter has no jurisprudential aspect. When it has a jurisprudent
position, then it will be possible to answer it.
"Summary: No answer was given."
This particular question and answer on Facebook do not appear on Khamenei's
fatwa website or on his personal website. It is notable that in his response
he did not confirm, or even mention, any fatwa that he allegedly issued in
the past – and that his summary notes that no response was given.
This question-and-answer format is mandatory for fatwas, so that any
position on a particular religious question will be recognized as a fatwa.
Even if the jurisprudent refers to an issue verbally, his words do not
constitute a fatwa unless it is later issued in this format. Any expression
of a position in any matter that is not issued in writing in the format of
"I was asked a question on a certain matter. My answer is such and such..."
is not a fatwa and does not carry the religious significance of one; it is
merely a statement.
Report On Fatwa Stating "Shari'a Does Not Prohibit the Use Of Nuclear
Weapons"
On February 16, 2006, the Rooz website reported that "Mohsen Gharavian, a
disciple of [Ayatollah] Mesbah Yazdi" had noted the existence of a fatwa
stating that shari'a did not prohibit the use of nuclear weapons (see MEMRI
Special Dispatch No. 1096, "Reformist Iranian Internet Daily: A New Fatwa
States That Religious Law Does Not Forbid Use of Nuclear Weapons," February
17, 2006 http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/1614.htm ) The website
reported that for the first time, extremist clerics from Qom had issued what
the daily called "a new fatwa," which states that "shari'a does not forbid
the use of nuclear weapons."
Could Iranian Regime Officials Lie? The Principle of Taqiyya
Iran's efforts to deceive the West about the alleged Khamenei fatwa raises
the question of whether Khamenei and the rest of the senior regime officials
could actually lie about this matter to world leaders.
One of the foundations of Shi'ite Islam is the principle of taqiyya –"the
obligation to be cautious" – as manifested in the use of lies for
self-defense purposes. Doing so is completely legitimate in Shi'ite Islam,
and has been employed throughout Shi'ite history.
The website of the Vali-e Asr Research Institute, which was founded 20 years
ago in Qom by Ayatollah Khazali and which deals with answering religious
questions on various matters, is considered an important research
institution in the Shi'ite religious establishment. The institute explains
the principle of taqiyya and sets out the categories of circumstances under
which its use is required. One of these categories deals with taqiyya by
(Shi'ite) Muslims towards non-Muslims. The publication of a false report on
the alleged existence of such a fatwa by Khamenei, and Iranian officials'
use of such a fatwa for the purpose of Iran's self defense, is an example of
the application of the principle of taqiyya.
To read the full report, visit
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6291.htm.
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