Iran quietly preparing underground nuclear testing site, say rebels
Iran is finishing the construction of a secret underground nuclear facility to conduct testing on an atomic bomb, an Iranian dissident group claimed yesterday in a move seemingly timed to torpedo negotiations between Tehran and the West.
Built into a mountainside at a military complex in central Iran, the secret site was revealed by the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), an exiled opposition group with a long but mixed record of exposing undeclared Iranian nuclear facilities.
If confirmed, the revelation could disrupt the talks between Iran and foreign powers which reopen in Geneva tomorrow. The two sides are edging towards a deal to resolve the decade-long stand-off over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
The allegation could undermine the pledges of transparency by Hassan Rowhani, Iran’s new president, and will be seized upon by Israel and Saudi Arabia, who oppose any deal with the Islamic Republic.
Citing witness reports and sources in the Iranian regime, the MEK claimed that the undeclared site lies within the Haft-e Tir military complex, 40 kilometres south of the city of Isfahan.
The base is known to be used for manufacturing components used in centrifuges and short-range missiles.
Construction at the site began in 2005 and was nearing completion, overseen by officials known to head Iran’s covert nuclear weapons programme, the MEK said.
Satellite images released by the group purported to show a heavily fortified tunnel leading to an underground complex.
The exact purpose of the facility is unclear, but officials at the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the Paris-based political wing of the MEK, said it believed the site was designed for nuclear weapons-testing.
‘‘The site is either for advanced research towards weaponisation or the final stages of constructing a bomb,’’ Shahin Gobadi, of the NCRI, said yesterday. ‘‘We had to release this when the information was concrete. If it comes ahead of the Geneva talks, so be it. We want to set out the facts for people to judge.’’
The claim was disputed by senior British diplomatic sources, however. ‘‘We’re not aware the site is ‘‘We had to release this when the information was concrete. If it comes ahead of the Geneva talks, so be it.’’ Shahin Gobadi, National Council of Resistance of Iran currently linked to any nuclear weaponisation programme,’’ one source said.
Gobadi said that the findings had been forwarded to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog declined to comment yesterday but officials in Vienna confirmed that they were studying the MEK’s allegations.
Delisted as a terrorist organisation by the US State Department last year, the MEK has a mixed record of exposing covert Iranian weapons facilities.
The group’s biggest revelation came in 2002, when it exposed Iran’s first uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and the heavy water plutonium reactor at Arak, triggering the current stand-off with the West.
Some observers suspect, however, that the Natanz and Arak revelations were handed to the MEK by the CIA or Israel’s spy agency, Mossad. Then in 2005, the group reported construction work at Fordow, revealed four years later to be a second uranium enrichment site. Three years ago, the group unveiled another ‘‘secret’’ nuclear site near the city of Qazvin. American officials rejected the claim.
While yesterday’s claim was viewed cautiously, many analysts think it highly likely that Iran has undeclared nuclear facilities around the country.
‘‘The timing of this announcement is suspect, coming on the eve of the next round of nuclear talks,’’ said Mark Fitzpatrick at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London.
‘‘That said, it wouldn’t be a huge surprise for undeclared nuclear sites to be revealed. Iran’s stated policy is not to reveal sites until they are operational, and the Government has spoken in the past of building 10 or more enrichment facilities.’’