Tehran will not make a nuclear bomb, says archbishop

Iran will not make nuclear weapons because killing is against the teachings of Islam, said the country’s senior archbishop as talks between Tehran and Washington aimed at brokering an arms deal continue, writes Abigail Frymann Rouch.

Archbishop of Tehran Ramzi Garmou was visiting Chaldean Catholics in Britain last week when he told The Tablet that “official Muslim clergy have stressed several times that their religion does not allow them to have nuclear weapons”.

He also accused the United States of supporting the self-styled terrorist organisation Islamic State through sympathisers among “its partners Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey”.

He questioned the US commitment to defeat the jihadists, suggesting some would welcome the destruction of countries such as Iraq and Syria “to safeguard the long-term future of Israel”.