Iranian ayatollah: Use of nuclear arms sometimes permissible

A religious leader in Iran has said that in certain situations it is permissible by Muslim law to use nuclear weapons. Ayatollah Muhassan Jarbian was quoted by the Iran News as saying that according to Muslim Shariya, "When the world is armed with nuclear weapons, it is permissible to make use of these weapons in order to stand up against this threat." This is the fist time the Iranian government has not censored such statements from a religious leader, according to Meir Javedanfar, an Israeli of Iranian descent and Middle East analyst at the Middle East Economic and Political Analysis Company. Until now, said Javedanfar, the Iranianian government had given clear instructions against saying anything that could be interpreted to mean that Iran is planning to use its nuclear technology for military purposes. [full story at Haaretz]