Statement from Iran: 'If Israel threatens our nuclear facilities, we may change our nuclear doctrine'
Brigadier General Ahmad Haghtalab, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unit responsible for protecting Iran's nuclear centers, stated that if Israel threatens to attack his country's nuclear facilities, Iran could change its "nuclear doctrine."
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Ahmad Haghtalab evaluated potential scenarios for an Israeli attack on Iran.
Haghtalab stated, "If Israel uses the threat of attacking our nuclear centers as a tool to pressure Iran, Iran may review its nuclear doctrine policy and deviate from its previously declared considerations."
Expressing that Iran's defense systems are prepared to counter attacks, Haghtalab noted that if Israel were to attack, they possess the coordinates of nuclear facilities in Israel and are ready to strike them with missiles.
The Iranian commander did not provide further details regarding his country's "nuclear doctrine."
SANCTIONS ARE IN PLACE
Western countries impose sanctions on Iran, claiming that its nuclear activities carry the potential for producing nuclear weapons.
A fatwa issued by the country's leader, Ali Khamenei, on December 12, 2010, declaring the production of nuclear weapons "haram" (forbidden), is considered the country's nuclear doctrine.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, in a meeting with United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on July 7, 2022, had stated, "There is no place for nuclear weapons in Iran's doctrine. It is contrary to our policies and beliefs."
IRAN-ISRAEL TENSION
Israel had carried out an airstrike on Iran's consulate building in Damascus on April 1. In the attack, a total of 7 Iranian officials, including 2 generals from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, were killed.
Iran had announced that Israel's consulate attack meant an attack on its own territory and that they would retaliate. Israel, in turn, had stated that it would respond to Iran's attack.
On April 13, Iran launched an attack on Israel with hundreds of kamikaze drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles.
Iran announced that some targets were hit, while Israel stated that most of the attacks were intercepted by air defense systems, though a missile did strike a military base in the south.
The Israeli press had claimed that the Tel Aviv administration had decided to respond to Iran's air attack in an "open and effective" manner.