Does Iran really want nuclear weapons?

Fareed Zakaria has an interesting opinion piece in Newsweek this week
arguing that the real powers-that-be in Iran have been fairly
anti-nuclear weapon for years and that reversing now could have
seriously repercussions for their religious legitimacy. This is largely
because in the past they've phrased anti-nuke rhetoric in extremely
Islamic language--language it's not easy just to forget or move past.
Check out this line from Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameini, given in a sermon in 2004:

"developing, producing or stockpiling nuclear weapons is forbidden under Islam."

It's pretty tough language to walk back and, as Zakaria points out, it would be pretty odd for a regime that claims legitimacy based on its fidelity to Islam to want to develop nuclear weapons even as it argues that they are un-Islamic. Just on the face if it, it's pretty terrible PR, something Iranians have tended to be pretty good at.

Just by airing this viewpoint the article raises a fascinating point about the perspective most Americans approach this issue with. We are trained by the media, our own government and other external actors (no names given) to see the Iranian regime as a suicide cult of death merchants. It couldn't be farther from the truth but that narrative never gets challenged. Thus, while Zakaria's article will probably shock a lot of the America audience, the real surprise should be how uninformed the American people and officials are about Iran and its leadership.