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Iran-Nuclear: Exiled Iranian Says Nation Hides Materials |
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Tuesday, 22 November 2005 |
 Associated Press, WASHINGTON - Iran has expanded the tunnels it uses to
hide a major part of its nuclear weapons program to a network covering
a large area of southeastern Tehran, an Iranian exile who opposes that
nation's Islamic government said Monday.
Alireza Jafarzadeh said the secret construction of missiles extends
well beyond Parchin, a military zone 20 miles southeast of the Iranian
capital. Jafarzadeh told reporters in September about the Parchin
tunnels.
On Monday, Jafarzadeh said that on orders of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
the Iranian defense ministry has taken over an area in eastern and
southern regions of Tehran.
Jafarzadeh is credited with having aired Iranian military secrets in
the past, but U.S. officials consider some of his assertions to have
been inaccurate.
Despite accusations from the United States and the European Union, Iran
denies any nuclear weapons ambitions, saying its nuclear program is
purely for civilian needs. It has rejected new inspections by the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear
watchdog, and expressed opposition to a proposal by European countries
to have reprocessing of Iran's nuclear material done in Russia.
North Korean experts have cooperated with Iran in the design and
building of the complex, producing blueprints, for instance, Jafarzadeh
said.
A leading Iranian aerospace group, Hemmat Industries, is located in the
area and is building three versions of Shahab and Ghadar missiles, he
said.
The Shahab 3 has a range of 1,300 to 1,900 kilometers and Ghadar, still
in the production stage, 2,500 to 3,000 kilometers, he said.
Some of the tunnels are located in Khak Sefid Mountain, he said.
In an interview, Jafarzadeh said the most significant development was
that Iran was concentrating its work on missiles and nuclear warheads
all together in tunnels underground in the Tehran area.
"I think the United States should be doubly worried about this because
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sped up its nuclear weapons program
and the revolutionary guards are now dominating all three branches of
power - executive, legal and judicial," Jafarzadeh said.
"It's a nightmare," he said.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack agreed that Iran has a covert
nuclear program. "It's hidden from sight and it's hidden through a
variety of means," he said.
However, McCormack said he did not know about Jafarzadeh's latest
disclosures. And there's been "a very mixed record in terms of some of
these groups in talking about so-called revelations about Iran's
nuclear programs."
Negotiations between the European Union and Iran are stalemated.
Paul Leventhal, founding president of the Nuclear Control Institute, a
private watchdog group, criticized the Bush administration for trying
to defuse the standoff by endorsing a Russian proposal to let Iran
enrich its own uranium so long as the enrichment is done in Russia.
"The United States has stepped onto a slippery slope," he said, and
given Iran's record of concealment and deception, "this is an approach
that invites serious trouble for the future." |
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