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As the US gallops towards a dangerous deal with Iran, another hidden nuclear site is discovered.
An exiled Iranian opposition group exposed another nuclear site in Iran on Tuesday that was unknown to the West, AFP reports.
The group accuses Tehran of running a “secret” uranium enrichment site, which violates ongoing talks with global powers on a nuclear deal.
“Despite the Iranian regime’s claims that all of its enrichment activities are transparent … it has in fact been engaged in research and development with advanced centrifuges at a secret nuclear site called Lavizan-3,” said Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a political umbrella of five Iranian opposition groups, according to AFP.
He said the site was hidden in a military base, supporting his claims with a series of satellite images drawn from Google Maps which, he continued, backed “this intelligence from highly placed sources within the Iranian regime as well as those involved in the nuclear weapons projects.”
The Lavizan-3 site was apparently constructed between 2004 and 2008 and reportedly has underground labs connected by a tunnel. “Since 2008, the Iranian regime has secretly engaged in research and uranium enrichment with advanced… centrifuge machines at this site,” Jafarzadeh said.
The group has informed the US administration on their findings, he added.
The existence of the site was “a clear violation” of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as UN resolutions and an interim November 2013 agreement struck with P5+1 group, Jafarzadeh explained, according to AFP.
“It is absolutely senseless to continue the negotiations,” he stated.
The NCRI has made several important revelations of the existence of secret nuclear sites in Iran in the past, AFP reports.
Lying for More than a Decade
“Despite the Iranian regime’s claims of transparency, these nuclear activities, today’s intelligence, makes clear it has been continuing to lie for more than a decade,” added NCRI member Soona Samsami.
PM Netanyahu during the tour of IDF’s Southern Command. (Photo: Haim Zach/GPO)
The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) expressed similar concerns in a secret report exposed last week regarding Iran’s evasiveness vis-a-vis its nuclear abilities and development. “Iran has not provided any explanations that enable the agency to clarify the outstanding practical measures,” the IAEA report states, referring to allegations of explosives tests and other activity indicating the development of nuclear bombs by Iran.
“The IAEA report again notes that Iran is refusing to reveal to the world its preparations for the production of nuclear weapons. Iran insists on hiding this from the international community at a time when the major powers are continuing to try and allow Iran to produce the core of such weapons, enriched uranium. These do not go together,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated after the story broke.
“It is astonishing that even after the recent IAEA report determined that Iran is continuing to hide the military components of its nuclear program, the nuclear talks are proceeding,” the Israeli leader said earlier this week. “Not only are they continuing, there is an increased effort to reach a nuclear agreement in the coming days and weeks. Therefore, the coming month is critical for the nuclear talks between Iran and the major powers because a framework agreement is liable to be signed that will allow Iran to develop the nuclear capabilities that threaten our existence.”
By: United with Israel Staff
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