NUCLEAR WEAPONS RELIGIOUSLY FORBIDDEN, AYATOLLAH SAYS

An Iranian religious leader reiterated last week that not only is Iran
not pursuing nuclear weapons, but that to do so would be a violation of
Islamic law.

"Production of nuclear bomb and even thinking on its production are
forbidden from Islamic point of view," said Ayatollah Mohammad Emami
Kashani in his Friday sermon at the Tehran University campus.

See "Ayat. Kashani: N-bomb production religiously forbidden," Islamic
Republic News Agency, November 9:

http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-22/0711090297152426.htm

It has previously been reported that a "fatwa" or religious decree
against nuclear weapons was issued by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei. But as far as is known, no text of such a fatwa has ever
been published to substantiate these reports. See "Iran's Missing
Anti-Nuclear Fatwa," Secrecy News, August 11, 2005:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2005/08/081105.html

Meanwhile, open source information on Iran's ballistic missile programs
was surveyed in a brief new report from the Congressional Research
Service.

"Today, there is little disagreement among most experts that Iran has
acquired some number of ballistic missiles from other countries and has
developed other ballistic missiles indigenously or in cooperation with
others," according to CRS.

"At the same time, however, there has been considerable public
disagreement over precisely what kinds of ballistic missile systems
Iran has or is developing. This is because there is little transparency
in Iran's ballistic missile programs, which has led to a lack of
confidence in Iran's public assertions."

"Finally, details about Iranian ballistic missile programs remain
classified in the United States. Because of the secrecy inherent in the
development of weapon systems, especially in less open societies,
open-source analyses reflect a wide range of technical views."

See "Iran's Ballistic Missile Programs: An Overview," November 8, 2007:

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RS22758.pdf