Geostrategic Media Political Commentary, Analysis, Security, Defense
Samantha Cooper
If Iran ever builds a nuclear bomb, it will radically alter the global balance of power, ushering in a far more dangerous world. For over two decades, the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran has loomed large over American foreign policy, with mixed success in preventing that nightmare scenario. However, newly uncovered activities at a shadowy office within Tehran’s Ministry of Defense suggest that we may be closer to that day than most experts have understood.
Two documents, written in Farsi and recently translated by The Free Press, reveal that Iran’s parliament is significantly expanding the funding and military scope of the Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research, known by its acronym SPND. These documents, now being reported in the Western press for the first time, outline a chilling vision: an Iran focused on developing advanced and nonconventional weapons without any civilian oversight.
Although the legislation does not explicitly mention nuclear weapons, its implications are clear. SPND’s mandate includes acquiring “innovative, emerging, groundbreaking, high-risk, and superior technologies,” a broad directive that leaves little doubt about its intentions. Moreover, the law shields SPND from domestic scrutiny while granting it a seemingly unlimited budget. This secretive organization, reporting directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, now operates with financial and administrative independence—a dangerous development for a country with Iran’s history of nuclear ambitions.
Ali Akbar Salehi, a former foreign minister and ex-head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, recently stated on Iranian state television that Iran already possesses all the components needed to build a bomb. “We have all the thresholds of nuclear science and technology,” Salehi declared. Such comments should serve as a wake-up call to the international community, particularly as the U.S. intelligence community has shifted its position on Iran’s nuclear program. A July report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) noted that Tehran has undertaken activities that “better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.”
SPND has long been suspected of playing a central role in Iran’s covert nuclear weapons research, with the U.S. and Israel closely tracking its operations. The new documents indicate that Tehran is now more brazen than ever, showcasing its capabilities and ensuring a steady flow of resources to SPND. This development coincides with growing concern among U.S. and Israeli officials that Iran may exploit regional instability—such as the ongoing war in Gaza—to further its nuclear ambitions.
Iran’s government officially maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, citing a 2003 religious fatwa by Ayatollah Khamenei banning the development of atomic weapons. However, recent statements by Iranian officials, including Salehi, suggest a growing debate within the country’s leadership about the need for nuclear deterrence. This debate is reportedly gaining traction within the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s elite military unit.
The election of Masoud Pezeshkian as Iran’s new president adds another layer of complexity to this unfolding drama. Pezeshkian, a self-proclaimed reformist, has expressed a desire to renew negotiations with the U.S. and other world powers to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities in exchange for easing sanctions. However, U.S. and Israeli officials are skeptical that he has the political clout to wrest control of SPND from the IRGC and Ayatollah Khamenei.
The notion that Iran was secretly pursuing a nuclear bomb has often been dismissed as paranoia or a Western myth. But the passage of this new Iranian legislation suggests that Tehran’s nuclear ambitions are very real—and may be closer to fruition than we have feared. The world must now grapple with the possibility that the clock is ticking down to a nuclear-armed Iran.
