Iranian lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian says he has called for Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei to authorise the development of an atomic bomb, Al Jazeera reports.

In a post on X, Nabavian says he had raised the proposal during a gathering in the city of Qom, reporting that it was met with expressions of approval from the crowd.

His remarks come amid growing calls from several Iranian lawmakers to reconsider the country’s longstanding position against developing nuclear weapons.

Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei issued a religious decree prohibiting nuclear weapons, while Tehran has consistently maintained that its nuclear programme is intended purely for peaceful purposes.

However, during a September interview with Al Jazeera, Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran remained committed to the ruling and had not changed its nuclear doctrine, before adding: “But we do not know what will happen in the future.”