From pulpits at Friday prayers to street rallies, Iranian clerics and officials are increasingly urging the country’s leaders to reverse their longtime pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons.
This demand, once seen as a fringe position held by hard-liners, is moving into mainstream public debate, and the shift could have dramatic consequences for Iran, whose government has for decades argued that its nuclear program was solely for peaceful purposes.
“We must be equipped with nuclear weapons — so that we can fight the criminal America with strength, God willing,” Ali Sepahvand, the Friday prayer leader in Iran’s western city of Kuhdasht, said last week, according to a widely distributed video.
As his voice echoed through a prayer hall, covered in photographs of commanders killed in the war with the United States and Israel this past year, the congregants chanted: “Nuclear deterrence is our inalienable right!” » | Erika Solomon | Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Little wonder that more and more Iranians are crying out for Iran to have nuclear weapons! America and Israel won’t stop trying to bully the Iranians into submission. It would be a different story if Iran had nuclear weapons! It is clear that Trump and Netanyahu’s policies are making the world a very much more dangerous place.
Ukraine should never have relinquished its nuclear arsenal back in 1994. On the basis of the Budapest Understanding on Security Assurances, the then Ukrainian government relinquished the country’s nuclear arms, handing over in 1996 its last nuclear warhead to Russia for dismantlement! The denuclearization process was finished in 2001. I bet that Ukrainians regret their country’s denuclearization. The war with Russia today would look very different had they not done that.
In an ideal world, I would not be in favour of countries possessing nuclear weapons. Alas this is not an ideal world. So, countries want nuclear weapons to ensure that they won’t be attacked by stronger countries which possess them, countries like Israel and the USA. It should be remembered that it was the balance of nuclear arsenals that ensured ultimate peace during the Cold War. Weaker countries will always be the target of stronger countries with malign designs. — © Mark Alexander
