Taqiyya: Iran Actually Boasts About Deceiving the West in Nuclear Talks
by Raymond Ibrahim • June 9, 2023 at 5:00 am
Iran's Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "used the Islamic concept of 'Taqiyya' to describe the regime's decision to accept the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with the West. Taqiyya means the permissibility to deny or conceal one's real beliefs to secure a worthy goal." — iranintl.com, May 20, 2023.
"Khamenei's emphasis on "expediency" as the third principle in foreign policy was particularly notable, as he urged flexibility "in necessary instances" and circumventing "tough barriers" to continue a set course." — iranintl.com, May 20, 2023
If it was not clear what "heroic flexibility" meant then, it probably should be clear by now. Reports consistently document that Iran has been cheating since day one.
"[Khamenei] said that when a revolution hits a tough rock on its path, it need not break its head against it; the wisest course would be to try and go around it." — Amir Taheri, "Iran: Heroic Flexibility Returns," June 4, 2023.
" [A]l- Taqiyya is with the tongue only, (not the heart)." — Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti in his book, "al-Durr al-Manthoor Fi al-Tafsir al- Ma'athoor," quoting Ibn Abbas.
Taqiyya is actually all around us. Iran pretends that its nuclear program is just for peaceful purposes. Some Muslims pretend to convert to Christianity (past and present), or a Muslim gunman gains entrance into a church by feigning interest in Christian prayers.
It should not be surprising, therefore, that Khamenei is relying on taqiyya once again. What is surprising is that the Biden Administration is falling for it – after being told it would be used – and allowing itself to be sucker-punched, or pretending to allow it.
In 1994, PLO leader Yasser Arafat, after he signed the Oslo Accord with Israel, justified his actions by saying, "I see this agreement as being no more than the agreement signed between our Prophet Muhammad and the Quraysh in Mecca"— referring to a truce, the Treaty of Hudaibiyah, which Muhammad broke as soon as he had regained power and was able to attack.
Similarly, Khamenei, by referring to taqiyya in Iran's agreement to a nuclear deal with the West, is signaling that Iran is only going along for "expediency" — until it finds itself in a position to realize its nuclear aspirations and renege.
[I]s there a single authority representing the West at these international nuclear talks that knows — let alone cares about — any of this? Or is the fix already in?
The Islamic doctrine of "taqiyya," dissimulation, permitting Muslims to deceive non-Muslims to advance the cause of Islam, is back in the news. In a speech delivered on May 20, 2023, Iran's Supreme Guide, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a report,
"set out to explain and clarify the principles and standards of 'a successful foreign policy' focusing on three keywords: Honor, wisdom, and expediency.
"Khamenei... used the Islamic concept of 'Taqiyya' to describe the regime's decision to accept the 2015 JCPOA nuclear deal with the West. Taqiyya means the permissibility to deny or conceal one's real beliefs to secure a worthy goal...."
Khamenei's emphasis on "expediency" as the third principle in foreign policy was particularly notable, as he urged flexibility "in necessary instances" and circumventing "tough barriers" to continue a set course.
