The Wisdom Behind Martyr Ali Khamenei's Refusal of Nuclear Weapons

Dalal Zainabi – March 1, 2026

It has become commonplace for those supporting the liberation of Palestine and opposing the US empire to ridicule the Islamic Republic for not developing nuclear weapons. I, however, believe that history will vindicate the wisdom of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s fatwa (ruling) prohibiting them.

If Iran had nuclear weapons, then Iranian hypersonic missiles would not currently be striking Tel Aviv. If Iran had nuclear weapons, the Zionist comprador Gulf kingdoms would not be in crisis, and US-NATO bases in over seven countries would not be in flames.

When the martyr Sayyed Ali Khamenei refused nuclear weapons, he chose for Islamic Iran to be the spear against global Zionism in a world void of conscience. Iran could have easily sat back with nuclear deterrence while the people of Gaza continued to be massacred. However, it is precisely because Iran does not have nuclear weapons, that it engaged in direct military confrontation with the United States and “israel.” And it is because the Islamic Republic did not strike first against the US and “israel”, that it’s free to rain missiles on US assets across the entire region of West Asia.

For the Leader, Iranian blood is not more valuable than the blood of Gaza. It is not more valuable than the blood of Yemen and South Lebanon and the millions of Arabs suffering under US occupation and tyrannical fascist regimes. The blood of the 165 Iranian schoolgirls massacred by US missiles in Minab Elementary School on Saturday is intertwined with the blood of the tens of thousands of children in Gaza slaughtered by the same monstrous people wielding identical US-made weapons. The sacrifices of the pure blood of these martyrs is not in vain, and God willing, the battle of True Promise 4 will usher in an era where the US and israel can no longer slaughter children with impunity.

Furthermore, the martyr Sayyed Ali Khamenei’s decision to forbid nuclear weapons was in defense of the Islamic Republic. Nuclear weapons do not stop imperialist soft-war technologies. Take Pakistan as an example: its nuclear weapons have not stopped it from succumbing to imperialist hybrid war. If the Islamic Republic had developed nuclear weapons, it would not have stopped the US-israeli organized terror riots in January, nor would it have ended the suffocating unilateral sanctions regime undermining social fabric and stressing the state.

The resilience of any revolution comes from the masses. The Islamic Revolution survives because of the support it maintains from the Iranian people and these direct confrontations with the enemy have weakened the forces of reaction inside Iran and strengthened national cohesion.

The sovereign decision of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to acquire nuclear weapons is its right. The DPRK’s demand is to be left alone by the forces of imperialism; this is precisely what Comrade Kim Jong Un himself expressed in his latest speech. On the other hand, Iran’s sovereign decision not to acquire nuclear weapons reflects the revolution’s dedication to proactively supporting regional resistance forces, rather than taking a verbal stance. Such sovereign decisions are the right of their respective countries, and should not be pitted against one another.

The position of the Leader reflects the Islamic Republic’s dedication to Palestine and internationalism. This principled commitment is what makes the Islamic Revolution an inspiration to the free peoples of the world, whether Muslim or non-Muslim. In a world of “realpolitik,” the martyr Ali Khamenei will be remembered as the Leader who refused to so much as chat with the mass-murdering pedophilic US president, and the Leader who made “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” into policy rather than just slogan.

When the Leader chose not to allow nuclear weapons, he knew very well that it may one day result in his martyrdom at the hands of the most evil forces alive.

Praise be to Allah for the wisdom of this great leader, who chose sacrifice instead of submission; a wise leader who pursued internationalism and the path of Imam Ali (peace be upon him.)(1)

Thanks be to Allah of our blessing to live in an age with such honorable leaders—those with love for humanity, delivering powerful blows to dehumanizers.

Leader of Iran, Sayyed Ali Khamenei, Martyred in US-Israeli Aggression

Note
(1) Not only were both Imam Ali (peace be upon him) and Sayyed Khamenei martyred during the blessed month of Ramadan, but the historical event of the Battle of Siffin and legacy of Ali shed important insight into the Leader’s Islamic reasoning against nuclear weapons. In the year 657 CE, Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) led the Muslims into battle against Muawiya ibn Abu Sufyan of the Umayyad empire, a man whose goal was to fracture a relatively young Islamic nation following the death of Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny). As Ali’s army approached Damascus, Muawiya occupied the bank of the Euphrates and plotted to achieve victory by denying Ali’s army access to water. In the heat of the desert, Muawiya simply believed that through means of dehydration, he could kill Ali’s army. Islamic Historian Shaykh Muhammad Jawad Chirri writes:

The Imam waged a battle for the water and this was his first Holy Battle against Muawiya and his camp. He succeeded in occupying the bank of the Euphrates and driving the Umayyad army away from the river. By this the situation was reversed. Now it became possible for the Imam and his army to do to their opponents what their opponents were trying to do to them. It became possible for the Imam to annihilate his opponents by their own weapons. Would the Imam do that?

Here the history of war kneels to glorify Ali Ibn Abu Talib. Here Ali stands among the leaders of nations towering like a mountain as he gives generations of humanity his impressive lesson. The religion of Islam stands against all kinds of wars of genocide and annihilation. The leaders of the nations of the twentieth century have legalized the annihilation of civilians through atomic bombs and so far have failed to prohibit the use of such weapons.

The faith of Islam (over fourteen centuries ago) had prohibited what was much less than a nuclear war. It prohibited killing children women elderly people and blind enemies. It prohibits the demolishing of houses of the enemies and destruction of their orchards.

I cannot conceive that anyone after the Messenger could take the attitude of the Imam Ali towards his enemy after his enemy had given him every justification to annihilate him and his army by his own weapon.

The leaders of the Imam’s army and their soldiers shouted: Prevent them from water as they prevented us from water. The Imam replied: “God has given you victory against them because of their injustice and aggression. Certainly the issue is more important than depriving them of water.”

OT/DZ/JRE/SH