Thread by @ArmsControlWonk

Oh, the infamous fatwa. A short thread on this silliness.

https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/1133080561235484672

The Iranians have made a big deal about the supposed fatwa prohibiting the possession of nuclear weapons. Iran used to have a website on its nonproliferation obligations -- and the fatwa got big billing.
web.archive.org/web/2015021617…

The problem is that no one has ever seen the actual fatwa. @ArianeTabatabai has called it the "phantom fatwa" in the best article I know discussing how a fatwa might, and might not, constrain Iran's nuclear ambitions.
thebulletin.org/2014/11/how-do…

Moreover, the public remarks made by @khamenei_ir on the subject are vague and inconsistent. Some yeas ago, a reader on my blog went through the various statements before concluding use was forbidden, but possession was not.
armscontrolwonk.com/archive/204124…

Iran approached chemical weapons the same way. The Iranians also make a big deal about the "a fatwa (religious edict) during the Iran-Iraq war prohibiting the production and use of chemical weapons in retaliation against Saddam Hussein’s forces." One problem ...

When Iran joined the Chemical Weapons Convention, it declared to the @OPCW that it had produced 24 metric tons of nerve agent near the end of the war, although these agents "were never weaponized" and subsequently destroyed between 1990-1992.
wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/0…

All of which is to say @JZarif and others have a tendency to oversell the fatwa. There is no disputing that Iran had a nuclear weapons program prior to 2003 and no one thinks this was done behind the Supreme Leader's back. Iran stopped because of pressure, not piety

@ArianeTabatabai said it best IMHO:
"The regime follows its practical interests. When ideology serves these interests, [religion] is put forward as a rationale; otherwise, it takes a backseat"
thebulletin.org/2014/11/how-do…