Iran mulled preventive nuke strike during Iraq war: ex-PresidentOctober 29, 2015 - 10:49 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Iran considered pursuing a nuclear deterrent when it began its nuclear program in the 1980s, during an eight-year war with Iraq, a former president has been quoted as saying, according to Reuters. Iran is implementing a deal reached with world powers in July, aimed at curbing its nuclear program to allay Western fears it was trying to build an atomic bomb. Throughout the negotiations, Iran insisted its program had only ever been for peaceful purposes. In an interview with Iran's Nuclear Hope magazine this week, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani suggested that officials were thinking about a deterrent capability when the nuclear program first began, but insisted that it never took shape. "When we first began, we were at war and we sought to have that possibility for the day that the enemy might use a nuclear weapon. That was the thinking. But it never became real," Rafsanjani said in the interview, which was carried by state news agency IRNA on Tuesday. "Our basic doctrine was always a peaceful nuclear application, but it never left our mind that if one day we should be threatened and it was imperative, we should be able to go down the other path," said Rafsanjani, who was parliament speaker during the war and became president shortly after. He said he had traveled to Pakistan to try to meet Abdul Qadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program who later helped North Korea to develop a bomb, but did not secure a meeting with him. Khan was at the center of the world's biggest nuclear proliferation scandal in 2004 when he confessed to selling nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea and Libya. Photo. Reuters Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. U.S. welcomes efforts to define Armenia-Azerbaijan border The United States welcomes efforts to define the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan, says Vedant Patel. Biden honors resilience of Armenian people on April 24 U.S. President Joe Biden has issued a statement on the 109th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. Ex-Karabakh leader moved to solitary confinement cell in Baku, his son says David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. |