Iran's New Supreme Leader Reverses Course on Nuclear Weapons

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who became supreme leader after his father Ali's death in February 2026, is far more interested in pursuing a nuclear weapon, the New York Times reported July 24. Ali Khamenei had publicly disavowed such weapons as recently as September 2025. U.S. intelligence, which consistently assessed Iran was not building one, may now need to revise that judgment.