It is no secret that the Iranian regime has expanded its influence in the White House, where President Barack Obama is providing talking points that sound increasingly like they are coming “straight out of Tehran.” Among these is the claim that Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons use.

The initial shock from this statement is somewhat blunted when considering the fact that Obama’s National Security Council Director for Iran Sahar Nowruzaddeh used to work for allegedly pro-Iranian regime lobbying group NIAC (National Iranian-American Council), and Valerie Jarrett, Obama’s Iranian-born senior advisor, reportedly led secret, back-channel negotiations with the clerical regime for an entire year (2012-2013) before it went public.

The bombshell, however, is the fact that the myth of a nuclear “fatwa” (religious edict) from Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has gotten so far that President Obama is now passing it off as a guarantor of safety against the likelihood of a potential nuclear hellfire from the East – and a subsequent nuclear arms race will be set off in the Middle East if Iran gets its hands on nuclear weapons.

Various publications and research institutes, including the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), have stated that “such a fatwa was never issued by Supreme Leader Khamenei and does not exist; neither the Iranian regime nor anybody else can present it. … MEMRI has conducted in-depth research with regard to this ‘fatwa’ and has published reports demonstrating that it is a fiction.”

In fact, Khamenei has reportedly never said that there is a fatwa against nuclear weapons in Iran. Rather, he used the concept of nuclear weapons being a violation of Islam to suggest and manipulate the situation to make it sound like a fatwa had been issued.

Breitbart News spoke with several people living in Iran, as well as Iranian expats, through social media, about this issue. A man named Alireza said that while Khamenei has said “to [the] public that nuclear weapons are against the religion [Islam] beside other mass destruction weapons,” he has never tangibly heard him mention this fatwa. “No I haven’t [heard it], he makes speech like hundreds of times in a year,” adding, “I don’t listen.” He then suggested, “Many people could have turned to Obama and ask when did he [hear] Khameneiy saying such thing.”

A man named Shahriar, who was born and raised in Northern California, issued the following statement to Breitbart News: “Sounds like an old spin from before. Does anyone have a print? My take is neither Obama nor IRI [Islamic Republic of Iran] is trustworthy. It’s bound to be violated.”

Yet, even if there were a fatwa, the problem lies in the fact that fatwas are impermanent and can change at any time. Khamenei or any of Iran’s grand ayatollahs can change a fatwa as they please. And in Shia Islam, there is a concept known as taqiyah, which is essentially a permitted form of concealing or omitting the truth to advance the cause of the Islamic faith.

Those Who Don’t Know History Are Destined to Repeat It

Dig a little bit deeper into history’s archives and a tremendous clue to Iran’s concealed truth will be revealed: a letter issued by the Supreme Leader and founder of Iran’s clerical regime himself, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. While Khamenei may have never mentioned a fatwa where Iran would not make a nuclear bomb, there is a letter from Khomeini that calls for the development of nuclear weapons. Regardless of what Khamenei says, in Iran, it is still Khomeini’s order that is deemed supreme.

The letter was written by Khomeini in 1988 and released by former President Hashemi Rafsanjani 18 years later, in September of 2006. The letter is at direct odds with Tehran and the Obama administration’s statements that Iran is not seeking a nuclear bomb because it goes against Islam. In his ’88 letter, Khomeini called for the Islamic Republic to have “the ability to make a substantial number of laser and atomic weapons which will be the necessity of the war at that time.” A link to the translation of the original letter was published by the Council on Foreign Relations.

While the letter was published in its entirety and clearly mentioned nuclear bombs, Iranian media quickly realized their mistake in revealing their hand and worked to remove the atomic reference from the text, at the request of the Iranian National Security Council. By then, however, it had been too late, and international media had already gotten their hands on it; Iran’s secret was out.

Ironically, the letter was released around the time Iran had started its nuclear program in secret, which only came to light several years later.

In closing his letter, Khomeini wrote, “Be aware of God and whatever happens, it is His decision. Peace be upon pious people. Ruhollah Al-Musavi al-Khomeyni.”

Follow Adelle Nazarian on Twitter @AdelleNaz.