Iran issues nuclear bomb threat to Israel amid escalating tensions, raging war

A senior Iranian official said that Tehran would change its nuclear doctrine if Israel continues to threaten its existence amid the ongoing turmoil in West Asia stemming from the war in Gaza. The assertion has triggered newfound fears of a nuclear warfare in the region on boil.

What is Iran's nuclear doctrine?

Iran's public position is that it has no plans to obtain nuclear weapons. But the intelligence agencies across the world have long concluded that Tehran intends to obtain a nuclear bomb.

Kamal Kharrazi, an adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a sharp threat to Israel by indicating that Tehran might change its nuclear doctrine sooner than expected.

Also watch |Does Iran have nuclear weapons?

Kamal Kharrazi said to Iran's Student News Network earlier this week, "We have no decision to build a nuclear bomb but should Iran's existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine."

"Recently, the military officials also announced that if Israel wants to attack nuclear facilities, it is possible and imaginable to revise Iran’s nuclear doctrine and policies and divert from the previous declaration considerations," he said.

Earlier in 2022, Kharrazi had claimed that Iran was technically capable of making a nuclear bomb but had not yet decided whether to build one.

Supreme Leader Khamenei banned the development of nuclear weapons in a fatwa in the early 2000s.

In his latest comment on the matter, Kharrazi said, "In the case of an attack on our nuclear facilities by the Zionist regime, our deterrence will change."

Iran and Israel have long been arch enemies with Tehran refusing to recognise Israeli existence. But what was a proxy war for decades, became an open confrontation last month after Tehran launched hundreds of missiles and drones against Israel in response to a suspected Israeli attack on an Iranian embassy in Syria's capital Damascus.

(With inputs from agencies)