The purpose of Iran's nuclear program was always to build an atomic weapon, the former deputy speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly told Iran-based Iscanews on Sunday, contrasting the Islamic republic's official position that its nuclear program is and always has been peaceful in nature.
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"From the very beginning, when we entered the nuclear activity, our goal was to build a bomb and strengthen the deterrent forces, but we could not maintain the secrecy of this issue, and the secret reports were revealed by the group of hypocrites," Ali Motahari said, referring to the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
According to Motahari, 64, a country that wants to use nuclear power peacefully never starts enrichment but first establishes a reactor and then enters the field of enrichment.
Motahari has a history of controversial and even racist and sexist comments. In 2020, he criticized his country's anti-American policies, saying that Iran has made anti-Americanism a strategic goal at the expense of developing the country.
"Struggle against America was supposed to be a means for us, not an end, but now it has turned into a goal by itself," he has said.
In March, Motahari alleged that the Kremlin had "infiltrated" the ranks of the Iranian government.
"My feeling is that Russia has infiltrated our government. Unfortunately, within the ruling establishment, we have Russophiles who have forgotten the 'Neither East, nor West' policy," he said in an interview with Ensaf News.
In his interview, Motahari also accused Moscow of giving Israel "a free hand" in attacking forces affiliated with Iran in Syria.
He added that Tehran was "in the arms" of both Russia and China, and lamented that the "suffocating" internal security systems of both countries had become "the model" for the Islamic republic, too.
"Even in textbooks," Motahari said, "they have removed some historical facts that would have been detrimental to [the image of] Russia. This is a distortion of history, and a deceit of the people," he told Ensaf.
In this instance as well, his views run directly counter to Tehran's official opinion. Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, officials from Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei down have near-uniformly backed Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On the day the Russian invasion began, Motahari lambasted the way the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting was covering the invasion. "IRIB is reporting the news like a Russian colony," he tweeted.
In 2021, Motahari termed "freedom of dress" for women an "animal right."
He is the son of Morteza Motahari, who was a Shiite scholar and disciple of the founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
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