Iran has not made a decision to build a nuclear weapon: U.S. defense secretary

TEHRAN,June 15(MNA) – Iran has not made a decision to build a nuclear weapon, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate panel on Tuesday. According to the website of the U.S. Department of Defense, Hagel made the comments as he and Dempsey testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee’s defense subcommittee on the Defense Department’s budget. Hagel and Dempsey both said Tehran has not made a decision to build a nuclear weapon, but appears to be positioning itself to preserve that option. U.S. policy, Hagel said, remains “preventing the Iranians from acquiring any capability to weaponize.” Dempsey said the Pentagon has options “both for their acquisition of a nuclear weapon, but also for the other things they are doing,” including cyberattacks and weapons proliferation. Iran has denied launching cyberattacks against the United States and also insists that its nuclear program is purely for peaceful purposes, such as medical research and electricity generation. Asked how a nuclear-armed, Shiite-ruled Iran could destabilize the region, Dempsey said Sunnis in the region could feel threatened. “It is certainly conceivable that someone on the Sunni side of the ledger would feel obligated to do the same,” he said, “and then we’re off to what could potentially be a regional arms race.” Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has issued a fatwa (religious edict) declaring that the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons are all haram (prohibited in Islam).