Hardline lawmakers demand nuclear bomb as Iran braces for UN sanctions

Tehran, Iran – Hardline lawmakers in Iran have once again demanded^[1] the country start building a nuclear bomb as Western powers are days away from reimposing United Nations sanctions amid concerns war could restart with Israel.

Led by a lawmaker from the ultraconservative holy Shia city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, 70 members of parliament signed onto a letter calling for a “change in the defence doctrine” of the theocratic establishment.

The letter, published by the state-run Fars news website, was not directly addressed to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei because his commands cannot be second-guessed by other authorities. Instead, it was directed at members of the Supreme National Security Council, which is in charge of the nuclear file and includes the president, judiciary and parliament chiefs.

Iran has long argued that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes and it has no intention of pursuing an atomic bomb, even though archnemesis Israel is known to be the only nuclear-armed power in the region.

The lawmakers argued that a fatwa, or an ultimate religious ruling, issued by Khamenei about two decades ago that prohibits the use of nuclear bombs does not technically forbid building or keeping them as deterrence.

They warned that Israel “has reached the brink of madness”, “attacks without respecting any international obligations and kills innocent people”.

Such rhetoric has intensified significantly among the more hardline elements of Iran’s establishment in the aftermath of Israel’s surprise attacks on Iran in June that triggered a 12-day war and also saw Washington intervene on Israel’s behalf and bomb Iran’s main nuclear facilities^[2].

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council announced on Sunday that cooperation is now suspended^[3] with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after action by France, Germany and the United Kingdom to reimpose international sanctions.

The European powers, known as the E3, are remaining signatories of Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers that United States President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned in 2018 and followed with tough sanctions. Despite strong opposition by China and Russia, which also negotiated and signed the 2015 nuclear agreement, the E3 triggered the “snapback” mechanism of the landmark accord and secured a vote at the UN Security Council^[4] last week.

All UN sanctions lifted as part of the 2015 deal will be reinstated by Sunday if there is no breakthrough agreement with Iran, which appears unlikely in the limited time left.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in New York early on Monday as the head of a delegation to hold negotiations with European and other powers. President Masoud Pezeshkian will be heading there on Tuesday to participate in the UN General Assembly, which will be heavily focused on Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and recognition of a Palestinian state^[5].

Last week, Araghchi presented what he called an “actionable plan” to his European counterparts, which media reports said included Iran recovering and diluting its supply of highly enriched uranium in exchange for deferring the snapback sanctions.

The diplomat said Iran was “faced with a litany of excuses and outright deflection, including the farcical claim that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not represent the entire political establishment”. He emphasised that he has the “full support” of the establishment, including the Supreme National Security Council.

On behalf of the Islamic Republic of Iran, I yesterday presented a reasonable and actionable plan to E3/EU counterparts to avert an unnecessary and avoidable crisis in the coming days.

Instead of being met with engagement on the substance of this plan, Iran is now faced with a…

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) September 18, 2025^[6]

Nuclear power plants deal with Russia

As the West ramps up pressure, Iran continues to huddle with China and Russia and tries to emphasise that Israel poses a threat to regional stability, particularly after its strikes on Qatar^[7] aimed at assassinating Hamas leaders.

On Monday, Iran’s nuclear chief, Mohammad Eslami, arrived in Moscow to hold nuclear negotiations and attend the Russian Energy Week forum.

In Moscow, he told Iranian state television that the two countries will sign an agreement in the coming days that would see Russia build eight nuclear power plants in Iran. Eslami said four are envisaged in Bushehr, where there is an existing plant, and four in other unnamed locations to be determined by Iran.

This agreement comes as Iran has been facing an energy crisis and rolling blackouts^[8] for years, particularly in the summer, and it is seeking to produce 20,000 megawatts of power through nuclear energy.

Reza Salehi Amiri, Iran’s tourism minister, told local media on Monday that China is Iran’s largest trading partner “and we want it to be our top partner in tourism as well”.

Six unnamed traders cited by the Reuters news agency last week said Iran has increased its discounts for oil sold in China as the US piles up sanctions to drive down Iranian exports. For years, Iran has also kept tens of millions of barrels of oil in floating storage as part of a shadow fleet to circumvent sanctions.

Mohammad Reza Araf, Iran’s first vice president, said during a local meeting on Monday that the government has devised plans to manage the country’s ailing economy in case UN sanctions are reinstated. He did not provide details but said they include “livelihood and special support packages”.

Iran has already been resorting to cash handouts and various other schemes^[9] for years as a persistent inflation rate of more than 35 percent decimates its 90 million people.

Iran’s currency, the rial, hovered around 1.05 million to the US dollar in the open market in Tehran on Monday, which is near its all-time low^[10] registered at the start of September when the snapback mechanism was first triggered.

The country has headed into what is known as “holy defence week”, a period that marks eight years of fighting off an invasion by neighbouring Iraq in the 1980s, which was led by President Saddam Hussein, who was armed by both the West and the East. The Iran-Iraq War killed hundreds of thousands of people.

Top Iranian military commanders with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the army met on Monday and released statements of defiance against Israel and the US.