The Associated Press – Iran has secretly revived a program to enrich uranium using laser technology, reportedly with favorable results, an Iranian opposition member said Thursday, citing information from members of the resistance inside the country.
Alireza Jafarzadeh said information about the laser enrichment program at Lashkar Abad, about 25 kilometers (about 15 miles) northwest of Tehran, came from the same sources that led to his revelation in May 2003 that Iran had a clandestine nuclear program.
There was no independent confirmation of the information Jafarzadeh offered on Thursday.
He urged the International Atomic Energy Agency to immediately send U.N. nuclear inspectors to Lashkar Abad and demand access to all areas, including a new 5,000-square-foot (450-square-meter) hall in a large garden where he said secret laser enrichment activities are being conducted.
Jafarzadeh, who heads the Washington-based Strategic Policy Consulting think tank, said the laser enrichment ââ¬â which is a more experimental way to produce weapons-grade uranium ââ¬â is being conducted under the guise of a front company called Paya Partov whose board is chaired by Reza Aqazadeh, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.
Contrary to Iran’s claim that it is complying with its obligations under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, Jafarzadeh said, "once again the information indicates that this is absolutely not the case."
"The information I’ve gotten from my sources today suggests that Iran is heavily involved in laser enrichment program, something Iran has told the IAEA that they have abandoned," he told a news conference.
Jafarzadeh has worked for the political wing of the Mujahedin Khalq, an Iranian opposition group that Washington and the European Union list as a terrorist organization. He claimed this was done to try to get Iran to suspend uranium enrichment, as demanded by the U.N. Security Council.
