US Catholic bishops are urging negotiators not to underestimate the power of fatwas by Islamic leaders banning atomic weapons

US Catholic bishops are urging negotiators not to underestimate the power of fatwas by Islamic leaders banning atomic weapons.
  
In a ground-breaking visit, a six-strong delegation from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) travelled in April to the holy city of Qom to meet with top leaders in a bid to bridge gaps between Iran and the West.
  
"Iranians feel profoundly misunderstood by America and the West," said Bishop Richard Pates, the chairman of the USCCB's committee on international justice and peace, speaking publicly about the trip on Wednesday.
  
The USCCB delegation argued Washington, in particular, should pay more heed to Iranian assertions that stockpiling and using nuclear weapons would be against the fundamental principles of Shiite Islam.
 
Iranian leaders say Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa against nuclear weapons in 2003 and has reiterated it several times since.

In their talks, the Iranian leaders assured the delegation that nuclear weapons "are immoral because of their indiscriminate nature and their powerful force of destroying all types of innocent communities," Pates told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.