Iran's top clerical body calls for reviewing the nuclear treaty and Iran's defense doctrine

Iran's Assembly of Experts, the body of Islamic jurists that chooses the supreme leader, on Thursday called for a review of Iran's membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and of the country's defense doctrine, Iran International reports. It is the first governing institution in Iran to make that call.

In a statement, the assembly said reviewing the NPT and the defense doctrine to establish adequate deterrence had become an "unavoidable necessity" and a "public and national demand."

The move carries religious weight because the assembly is made up of senior clerics. Their backing could help weaken the religious basis for Iran's long-standing ban on nuclear weapons, which rests on a decree by the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The assembly has no direct authority over nuclear policy.

Hardliners have been urging Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to overturn his father's decree, and one lawmaker, Ahmad Naderi, has openly called for Iran to acquire an atomic bomb. Earlier this week, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran remained committed to the NPT.

The assembly also warned that another attack on Iran would bring an "immediate and effective response without geographical limits," and called for a "war economy headquarters" under the supreme leader's oversight.