Iran will never abandon its military nuclear option, ex-president says

Iran considered pursuing a nuclear deterrent when it began its nuclear programme in the 1980s, during an eight-year war with Iraq, a former president has been quoted as saying. "But it never became real", Rafsanjani said in the interview, which was carried by state news agency IRNA on Tuesday.

The interviewer who is from Rafsanjani's faction describes him as a "knowledgeable in nuclear science" and writes: "When he talks about laser and nuclear fusion and its difference with nuclear fission, his knowledge on the subject is bewildering although logically one should not be surprised since in the history of nuclear science and the formation of industry in Iran after the Islamic Revolution he surely plays the role of the principal supporter and its founder". In a televised interview, Rafsanjani explained that the work began because Iran was at war with Iraq, and Iraq had begun developing its own nuclear facilities at Osirak.

The NCRI said that the former Iranian president acknowledged that from the beginning there was a comprehensive clandestine nuclear plan.

"At any rate, it was agreed that they (Pakistan) should help us a bit - for example, by delivering second-hand first-generation centrifuges, along with some designs - so that we could build it ourselves", he said, adding: "The Pakistanis gave us 4,000 second-hand first-generation centrifuges, along with designs".

Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei never issued an official fatwa against nuclear weapons, at least not one for which there is any official record. His support for selling nuclear weapons technology, many experts believe, that was driven by his doctrine of "strategic defiance", which envisaged a strategic partnership between Islamabad, Kabul, Tehran and Ankara.

Following the worldwide agreement on the Iranian nuclear program in which we supported and appreciated the firm position of France, some observers are evaluating the role Iran could play in the settlement of this crisis. It seems Abd al-Qadir Khan himself was of the belief that the world of Islam should have a nuclear bomb.

"We have long made our assessment of Iran's past activities and it's that assessment and the shared concerns by the global community about the nature of Iran's past activities and Iran's attempts to hide them that brought Iran to the negotiating table in the first place". Moreover, the Iranian Resistance has exposed details of Iranian regime's nuclear cooperation with North Korea along the way, the last being in June 2015. "We, of course, have our large military presence in the Persian Gulf, in the Gulf of Aden", she said.

But according to Rafsanjani, the conflict could have ended a lot differently. "Ayatollah Khamenei, too, did not meet him". In a 2009 interview - given after he had served five years under house imprisonment - Khan said that "since Iran was an important Muslim country, we wished Iran to acquire this technology".

Iran fought a devastating war against Iraq in the 1980s. Rafsanjani is the head of Iran's State Exigency Council.