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Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=1758
What Nuclear Fatwa?
(Israel Hayom) Dore Gold - When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the talks with Iran, she explained that she heard a report from Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told him that, under Islam, weapons of mass destruction are religiously prohibited. Clinton explained: "We will be meeting with the Iranians to discuss how you translate what is a stated belief into a plan of action." This religious argument is not new. In fact, on August 10, 2005, the Iranian government sent an official letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna stating that "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued the fatwa that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are forbidden under Islam." At the IAEA, Pierre Goldschmidt, who was its former deputy director general, wanted to see if this fatwa even existed. He actually asked for a copy of the exact text of the nuclear fatwa in 2005. but the Iranians never came forth with anything in writing. Yet the IAEA disclosed in November 2011 that activities "relevant to the the development of a nuclear explosive device" took place. Thus, whether the famous nuclear fatwa existed or not, what is clear is that Iran persisted to develop an atomic bomb despite the supposed religious declarations ascribed to Khamenei.