It was probably the U.S. invasion of Iraq that made the North Koreans go nuclear, for finding yourself on President Bush’s short list for invasion (the “Axis of Evil”) is bound to be a bit unnerving. That may also explain why the Iranians put their nuclear programme into high gear – although there is an ideological difficulty here.
Just last month, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared once again that “Nuclear weapons are religiously forbidden in Islam and Iranian people do not have such a weapon.” Since Khamenei is a religious scholar, we may presume that he is not lying when he says that nuclear weapons are forbidden (haram) in Islam. Ayatollahs do not trim their conclusions on such matters to suit the tactical needs of the moment.
