Vladimir Lenin famously said that if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth. It looks like the regime in Tehran has embraced that adage. What's troubling is that Washington never heard about this phrase. U.S. President Barack Obama told the U.N. General Assembly in September that "[Iran's] Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons, and President Rouhani has just recently reiterated that the Islamic republic will never develop a nuclear weapon." The reported fatwa has served as one of the rationales for the Obama administration's decision to extend an outstretched hand to Iran. But according to the Middle East Media Research Institute, such a fatwa (religious ruling) does not exist. The notion that the Iranian leader made such a ruling has been propagated by the regime for several years even though it has refused to provide the actual text of the would-be fatwa. In their talks with the West, Iranian officials have repeatedly cited one of Khamenei's sermons from 2004 and one of his letters from 2012, but in both cases his statements never talk about a religious prohibition. Khamenei's official list of fatwas, uploaded to both of his websites, does not include such a fatwa either. During one of his Friday sermons, on Nov. 5, 2004, Khamenei said, "We do not want nuclear weapons. Our youths are our nuclear weapon. ... A regime that has all those young believers and this united nation does not need a nuclear weapon." He later added that "nuclear weapons -- including their production, storage and usage -- are all problematic." In 2012, Khamenei responded to a letter from the Iranian group Cheragh-e Azadi (The Light of Freedom), which asked him whether his previous statements amount to a fatwa. Khamenei told the group that the quotes attributed to him lack "jurisprudential aspect." "When [the letter] has a jurisprudent position, then it will be possible to answer it," he told them. Israel Hayom columnist Dore Gold also wrote over a year ago that the so-called fatwa was never issued.
MEMRI: Obama uses nonexistent fatwa as basis for Iran talks
In September, the U.S. president told the U.N. that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "has issued a fatwa against the development of nuclear weapons," but it turns out no such edict exists • In 2012 Khamenei specifically said it was premature to rule on the matter.
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