US intelligence indicates that Iran’s new Supreme Leader is increasingly receptive to the idea of pursuing a nuclear weapon
US intelligence indicates that Iran’s new supreme leader is pursuing nuclear weapons with greater intensity than his predecessor.
American intelligence agencies assess that Iran’s new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has a greater inclination to pursue a nuclear weapon compared to his father and predecessor, as reported by officials familiar with the evaluations.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the war in an Israeli attack supported by US intelligence, had dismissed the idea of developing a nuclear weapon.
For years, American officials asserted that although Iran sought the ability to develop a nuclear weapon, many were convinced that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s hesitation to take that ultimate step was sincere.
His successor has not publicly advocated for Iran to pursue the development of a nuclear weapon.
US intelligence agencies now believe that Mojtaba Khamenei and the more hardline government that arose following the deaths of many of Iran’s previous leaders at the hands of the United States and Israel are resolute in their pursuit of advanced nuclear weaponry.
