Iran’s nuclear policy is under public debate, with a lawmaker advocating a bomb program while President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran is not seeking nuclear weapons and inspectors cannot verify Iran’s current uranium stockpile.
In material posted on his official channel, Ahmad Naderi, a member of parliament’s presiding committee, called for Iran to leave the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and develop a nuclear weapon. He argued that nuclear deterrence would protect Iran and invoked Iraq and Libya as precedents.
In an Aug. 22 interview with Abdi Media, Hassan Ghashghavi, spokesperson for parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei could issue a nuclear-weapons ruling different from his predecessor’s. Ghashghavi said the war had made some political figures more open to changing policy, but reported that no specific strategy had been set at the time of the interview. He predicted a majority of parliament would support withdrawal if the supreme leader chose it and it served the public interest.
Pezeshkian’s office said he reaffirmed Iran’s position against seeking nuclear weapons during an Oct. 16 meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. The statements reflect differing views within Iran’s political system; they do not establish a formal change in government policy.
A Sept. 1, 2026, report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it could not establish the current size, composition or location of Iran’s enriched-uranium stockpile. The agency also could not verify whether Iran had suspended all enrichment-related activity, including research and development. Its estimate of 440.9 kilograms enriched up to 60% was as of June 13, 2025, and is not a verified current inventory.
Under Article X of the NPT, Iran would have to give all other parties and the U.N. Security Council three months’ advance notice to withdraw. The notice must also state the extraordinary events Iran says have jeopardized its supreme interests.
