Nuclear Fatwa and International Law

One of the most serious international crisis in recent years that has involved majors powers in in long round of negotiations is the dilemma of Iranian nuclear program. While western powers, in particular the United States of America, accuse Iran of developing the capability for nuclear weapons, Iranian high officials categorically deny these accusations insisting that their nuclear program is totally peaceful and designed for civilian purposes. One effort to build confidence and create more transparency on the peaceful character of nuclear program the Fatwa, known as Nuclear Fatwa, issued by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Khamenei, banning the production and use of nuclear weapons. The Supreme Leader who has the ultimate authority over other branches of the state, and is the commander in chief of the armed forces of Iran, explicitly declared this principal based on Islamic teachings and beliefs. The Nuclear Fatwa delineates that the production and use of the nuclear weapons are prohibited in Islam. The Fatwa which in reality is Iran’s formal policy with regard to the weapons of mass destruction is based on the Islamic principles and edicts derived from the formal sources of the Islamic legal and jurisprudential system. In other words, the Nuclear Fatwa is an edict deduced from those formal sources and as a result, has special legal effects in Iranian legal system. This paper seeks to study the content and the nature of the Nuclear Fatwa in the light of the Islamic jurisprudence, the status of the Fatwa according to the Iranian constitution and practice, and in particular its status under international law as a unilateral statement made publicly by a head of state.