Letter from 1988 says Iran needed to aquire nuclear weapons to win the war with Iraq

September 30, 2006

A letter that had been written in 1988 by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who led the 1979 Iranian Revolution and is Iran's former Supreme Leader has been made public by Iran's former president Hashemi Rafsanjani and states that Iran needed to acquire nuclear weapons in an attempt to win the war with Iraq. The letter was reportadly sent to "political leaders" while the Iran-Iraq war was taking place.

BBC News says the letter states what would be needed if Iran was willing to continue any battle with the country of Iraq. Khomeini says that "more aircraft, helicopters, men and weapons" would be needed to continue the fight and that "within five years, need laser-guided and atomic weapons in order to win the war" with Iraq.

BBC News also say that Khomeini states Iran's economy "was operating at a level below zero." He also said that people who were needed to volunteer for battle were "in short supply."

The letter also states that Khomeini was "forced" into a cease-fire of the Iran-Iraq war, which he says is "like drinking poison."

Khomeini died in 1989.