{{Short description|Political slogan}} [[File:Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends the G7 Summit in Canada (54594644396).jpg|thumb|International leaders at the 51st G7 summit, who jointly stated "Iran can never have a nuclear weapon".<ref name=":2" />]] "'''Iran can never have a nuclear weapon'''" is a political slogan of Israel's government and its international supporters regarding the nuclear program of Iran. It has been used to state an opposition to nuclear proliferation to Iran in the decades following the Iranian Revolution. The notion was a consistent justification, among many others, for Israel and the US initiating the 2026 Iran war.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williams |first=Heather |last2=Rodgers |first2=Joseph |date=2026-04-02 |title=Options for the United States to Resolve the Iran Nuclear Challenge |url=https://www.csis.org/analysis/options-united-states-resolve-iran-nuclear-challenge |language=en}}</ref> A similar phrase was used by George Bush in 2005.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=President Bush and Chancellor Schröder Discuss Partnership |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/02/20050223-4.html |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov}}</ref>
Arguments in favor of the slogan include the potential for a regional nuclear arms race, with countries such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Others include an increase in Iran's alleged sponsoring of terrorism, or the chance of regime change, both of which could lead to nuclear terrorism.
Criticism of the phrase includes a US double standard that ignores Israeli nuclear weapons, that a nuclear-armed Iran would stabilize the Middle East via nuclear deterrence, or that Iran does not seek nuclear weapons.
== History == In February 2005, speaking with German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, US President George W. Bush stated "It's vital that the Iranians hear the world speak with one voice that they shouldn't have a nuclear weapon."<ref name=":0" />
In December 2005, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stated Israel "cannot accept a nuclear Iran".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Inbar |first=Prof Efraim |date=2005-12-15 |title=The Imperative to Use Force Against Iranian Nuclearization |url=https://besacenter.org/the-imperative-to-use-force-against-iranian-nuclearization/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies |language=en-US}}</ref>
In December 2022, the Council of the European Union stated that "Iran must never be allowed to develop or acquire a nuclear weapon."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran: Council approves conclusions |url=https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/12/12/iran-council-approves-conclusions/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Consilium |language=en}}</ref>
On 13 June 2025, Israel launched strikes on Iran beginning the Twelve-Day War, following an International Atomic Energy Agency finding that previous day, that Iran was in non-compliance. On 17 June, the leaders of the G7 nations jointly stated "Iran can never have a nuclear weapon".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |date=2025-06-17 |title=G7 leaders: ‘Iran can never have a nuclear weapon’ |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/g7-leaders-iran-can-never-have-a-nuclear-weapon/ |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}}</ref>
On 27 March 2026, one month into the 2026 Iran war, Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte stated that NATO has been clear that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.<ref name="j181">{{cite web |last=Press |first=Associated |date=2026-03-27 |title=Rubio Tries To Win Over NATO Allies Hours After Trump Insulted Them |url=https://www.newsweek.com/rubio-tries-to-win-over-nato-allies-on-iran-11745828 |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=Newsweek}}</ref>
== Analysis == A nuclear-armed Iran has raised concerns about a regional nuclear arms race, with countries such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey indicating they might pursue nuclear capabilities if Iran were to develop them.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Khan |first=Saira |title=The Iran Nuclear Deal: Non-Proliferation and US-Iran Conflict Resolution |date=2024 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-3-031-50195-1 |series=Studies in Iranian Politics Series |location=Cham |pages=176}}</ref> Due to Iran's alleged sponsoring of terrorism, Alex S. Wilner of the Center for Security Studies has suggested Iran may provide materials allowing for nuclear terrorism,<ref name="Winer2012">{{Cite journal |last=Wilner |first=Alex S. |date=2012-01-01 |title=Apocalypse Soon? Deterring Nuclear Iran and its Terrorist Proxies |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/01495933.2012.647539 |journal=Comparative Strategy |language=EN |volume=31 |pages=18–40 |doi=10.1080/01495933.2012.647539 |issn=0149-5933 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> and Alireza Nader of the RAND Corporation that Iran's nuclear-armed status can be used as soft power to increase its support for conventional terrorism.<ref name="Nader2013">{{Citation |last=Nader |first=Alireza |title=Nuclear Iran and Terrorism |date=2013 |work=Iran After the Bomb |pages=25–30 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7249/j.ctt5hhtg2.10 |access-date=2025-02-24 |series=How Would a Nuclear-Armed Tehran Behave? |publisher=RAND Corporation |jstor=10.7249/j.ctt5hhtg2.10}}</ref> Charles David Freilich, a former deputy national security adviser in Israel,<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles David Freilich {{!}} Political Science |url=https://polisci.columbia.edu/content/charles-david-freilich-0 |website=polisci.columbia.edu |access-date=19 April 2026}}</ref> has argued that Iran may be subject to internal instability or regime change, risking nuclear weapons falling into the hands of extremist factions of violent non-state actors.<ref name="Freilich 2018 83–85">{{Cite book |last=Freilich |first=Charles David |title=Israeli National Security: a New Strategy for an Era of Change |date=2018 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-060293-2 |location=New York |pages=83–85}}</ref>
== Criticism == The US tacit acceptance of Israeli nuclear weapons has been criticized as a double standard in nonproliferation that hinders US negotiations to limit the Iranian nuclear program.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Hanson |first=Marianne |date=2026-03-24 |title=Israel wants to destroy Iran’s nuclear program. But should it have nuclear weapons itself? |url=https://theconversation.com/israel-wants-to-destroy-irans-nuclear-program-but-should-it-have-nuclear-weapons-itself-278801 |access-date=2026-04-06 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=22 February 2024 |title=Nuclear Weapons and Non-Proliferation in the Middle East |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/2024/02/nuclear-weapons-and-non-proliferation-in-the-middle-east |access-date=26 March 2026 |website=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Kristensen-2022">{{Cite journal |last1=Kristensen |first1=Hans M. |last2=Korda |first2=Matt |date=2 January 2022 |title=Israeli nuclear weapons, 2021 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00963402.2021.2014239 |journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |language=en |volume=78 |issue=1 |pages=38–50 |bibcode=2022BuAtS..78a..38K |doi=10.1080/00963402.2021.2014239 |issn=0096-3402 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> This has been seen as unsustainably "implying there are “right hands” and “wrong hands” for nuclear weapons".<ref name=":1" />
In 2012, Columbia University political scientist Kenneth Waltz authored the controversial article "Why Iran Should Get the Bomb".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Waltz |first=Kenneth N. |date=2012 |title=Why Iran Should Get the Bomb: Nuclear Balancing Would Mean Stability |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23218033 |journal=Foreign Affairs |volume=91 |issue=4 |pages=2–5 |issn=0015-7120}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Keck |first=Zachary |title=Kenneth Waltz on “Why Iran Should Get the Bomb” |url=https://thediplomat.com/2012/07/kenneth-waltz-on-why-iran-should-get-the-bomb/ |access-date=2026-04-07 |website=thediplomat.com |language=en-US}}</ref> Political scientist John Mearsheimer supported Waltz's thesis of greater stability, while US official Dov S. Zakheim argued the chance of proliferation in further countries was unacceptable.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-07-09 |title=Nuclear-Armed Iran Would Bring 'Stability' But Risks |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/nuclear-armed-iran-would-bring-stability-but-risks |access-date=2026-04-07 |website=PBS News |language=en-us}}</ref>
The 2014 book ''Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare'' by Gareth Porter asserts that Iran's nuclear program has been peaceful, arguing that the evidence widely cited to demonstrate Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions is fabricated by Israel and the United States.<ref name="FAR">{{cite news |last1=Waterbury |first1=John |year=2014 |title=Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/2014-04-21/manufactured-crisis-untold-story-iran-nuclear-scare |access-date=January 5, 2016 |work=Foreign Affairs |isbn=978-1935982333}}</ref><ref name="JWB">{{cite web |last1=Staff |date=January 31, 2014 |title=Manufactured Crisis: The Untold Story of the Iran Nuclear Scare |url=https://justworldbooks.com/manufactured-crisis/ |access-date=January 5, 2016 |publisher=Just World Books}}</ref>
Iran considers itself legally and politically constrained from developing nuclear weapons by instruments including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and Ali Khamenei's fatwa against nuclear weapons. However, Joseph Klinger writing for the American Society of International Law suggested these are impermanent, as Iran can withdraw from the former and overwrite the latter with a new fatwa, and the only unilateral legal impositions on Iran can come from resolutions of the United Nations Security Council.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Iran, Nuclear Weapons, and International Law: What Might the Final Agreement Add? {{!}} ASIL |url=https://www.asil.org/insights/volume/19/issue/14/iran-nuclear-weapons-and-international-law-what-might-final-agreement |access-date=2026-04-07 |website=www.asil.org |language=en}}</ref>
== See also ==
* Bomb Iran * Death to America
== References == {{Reflist}} Category:Nuclear program of Iran Category:Slogans