Influential Iranian cleric call for ’special weapons’ in veiled reference to nuclear arms

Iran cleric wants ’special weapons’ to deter enemy

TEHRAN, Iran — The hardline spiritual mentor of Iran’s president has made a rare public call for producing “special weapons” that are currently the monopoly of a few nations, a veiled reference to nuclear arms.

The Associated Press on Monday obtained a copy of a book written by Ayatollah Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi in which he wrote Iran should not deprive itself of the right to produce these “special weapons.”

Iran’s government, as well as its clerical hierarchy, have repeatedly denied the country is seeking nuclear weapons, as alleged by a number of Western nations.

Yazdi’s book was written in 2005 and then reprinted last year, but would have only had a very limited circulation among senior clerics and would not have been public knowledge.