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ali khamenei and convened a conference of well-known Holocaust deniers to discuss the issue and arrive at conclusions. Though not attempting to roll back the minor social freedoms allowed by Ayatollah Khamenei before the elections, Ahmadinejad did replace many government officials with members of the intelligence and security services. As a result, politically motivated arrests of journalists, bloggers, and other opponents increased. Most dramatically, he aggressively took on the United States over the issue of Iran’s right to develop its nuclear program. It is this provocation that has caused a widening split between the conservativism of the Council of Guardians and Ayatollah Khamenei and that of President Ahmadinejad.
Iran’s Nuclear Program Ayatollah Khamenei has said conflicting things about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Though he has repeatedly issued fatwas (religious rulings) condemning the production, stockpiling, and use of nuclear weapons, he has also insisted that Iran must maintain a strong army to be able to confront its enemies and all foreign aggressors. He has also vowed that the country will not back down from its right to develop nuclear technology, though he insisted the program was designed for peaceful purposes only. Iran is a signer of the international nuclear nonproliferation treaty (an agreement designed to prevent the worldwide spread of nuclear technology and weaponry), and it has never been caught violating the agreement. Yet for almost 20 years it has kept some of its nuclear activities secret from International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors. Many Iranians believe that if Israel, Pakistan, and India can possess nuclear weapons, there is no reason Iran should not be able to. It is an issue of autonomy and nationalism more than a desire to be threatening. Many also believe nuclear weapons would be