Iranian Exiles Expose Top-Secret Nuclear Site Near Tehran

Despite the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran has continued to deceive the world in its pursuit of a nuclear bomb and they are “closer every day,” says member of Iran resistance group.

By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel

An exiled Iranian resistance group revealed details Friday of a previously unknown Iranian nuclear development site near Tehran.

Researchers for the group have been tracking Iran’s illegal nuclear program for years, and they located the new top secret site located in an area called Sorkheh-Hessar. The region is operated by Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), the Iranian government agency that has been repeatedly hit by U.S. sanctions for its illegal nuclear activities.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) says the new site provides more proof that the Islamic Republic is failing to abide by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action JCPOA – the international deal spearheaded by the Obama administration that was supposed to stop Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons.

NCRI Deputy director Alireza Jafazadeh said the entire area is cordoned off as a top-secret military site north of the Khojir complex, which manufactures Iranian ballistic missiles, and the new nuclear site is protected by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“Our revelation today once again proves the fact that the JCPOA did not prevent the mullahs’ strivings to acquire nuclear weapons and that the regime has even reneged on its commitments stipulated in the JCPOA. These activities have taken place since the JCPOA was signed in 2015 and even prior to the U.S. leaving the Iran nuclear deal,” said Soona Samsami, head of the NCIR U.S. office.

Jafazadeh said that despite the 2015 JCPOA agreement with the UN, Iran has continued to deceive the world in its pursuit of a nuclear bomb and they are “closer every day.”

“No parts of that program have been disbanded since 2015. It continued before the JCPOA, during the JCPOA and after the JCPOA.”

Jafarzadeh said the satellite photos, details of the newly revealed nuclear site and the names of the Iranian government officials who oversee the nuclear weapons construction at the site are being provided to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which oversees the nuclear production of its members.

Despite its obligations to allow international inspections, Iran has repeatedly stonewalled the IAEA and in 2019 prevented an inspector from entering a facility. The Iranians have repeatedly forced inspection delays at two suspected facilities, during which they allegedly cleaned up previous traces of nuclear material.

Despite sitting on some of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves, Iran claims it is investing tens of billions of dollars for nuclear electricity. Tehran has a long history of lying to the IAEA and refusing to cooperate.

For years, IAEA has been reporting on Iran-documented Iranian refusal to allow inspections at its nuclear facilities to the point that the UN watchdog agency said Iranian actions “seriously undermined the Agency’s ability to conduct effective verification.”

Last week, IAEA director Rafael Grossi said the Iranians “continue to enrich uranium, and to a much higher degree than they have committed themselves to. And this amount is growing by the month.”