Publication

This essay examines the history of Iran's nuclear weapons program including why Tehran undertook this effort, and highlights the possibility that the country might already possess such a weapon. More specifically, the author 1) examines Iran's war doctrine, how it could lead the country to create a nuclear weapons program, and why Tehran adopted a policy of ambiguity over whether it had such a program; 2) compares Iran's nuclear weapons doctrine to that of France and Turkey; 3) looks at whether Iran has obtained nuclear fissile material and how long it would take to build a weapon if it had such material; and 5) asks whether Iran’s supreme leader has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons.