US intelligence agencies have assessed that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son and current Supreme Leader of Iran, shows a greater interest in developing nuclear weapons than his father, former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US and Israeli airstrikes, according to The New York Times.
While Ali Khamenei was hesitant about acquiring nuclear weapon manufacturing capabilities, his son Mojtaba Khamenei is different.
US intelligence based this assessment on intercepted conversations and public remarks prior to the war.
Citing officials briefed by US intelligence, The New York Times reported that US intelligence believes Mojtaba Khamenei and his hardline government harbor ambitions to develop advanced nuclear weapons.
The newspaper interpreted Mojtaba Khamenei's in-principle disagreement with the end-of-war memorandum of understanding agreed upon by the US and Iran last month as stemming from a clause keeping Iran from pursuing nuclear weapons.
While Iran is not currently showing signs of resuming its nuclear program, it reportedly took some measures to protect its nuclear assets, such as moving centrifuges to underground facilities, through the war last December and the recent conflict.
The New York Times pointed out that with the US resuming military actions targeting Iran, such intelligence assessments could serve as a justification for escalating the level of attacks.
(Reported by Jeong Yu-mi | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News)
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