In May 2003, PMOI exposed regime’s nuclear and biological engineering in Shian-Lavisan. However, despite the light shed on regime’s 20 years of clandestine activities to attain nuclear bomb, appropriate reaction was not shown by the West until after the coalition’s attack on Iraq.
Appeasement of mullahs by the West, especially by U.S. and Britain, was at its peak in 2002 due to the upcoming attack on Iraq. In an atmosphere of conciliation with the regime, they not only closed their eyes on this greatest revelation on regime’s nuclear activities, but collaborated with the mullahs against the PMOI. Jack Straw, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, visited Iran in October 2002, two months after PMOI’s nuclear disclosure.
Meanwhile, during this period, information provided by PMOI had been confirmed by U.S. in its investigation of the matter and aerial photographs of Natanz. However, instead of discussing the nuclear issue, Mr. Straw informed the mullahs that the coalition will attack Iraq. He then presented coalition’s requests from the regime. A report by the Iranian regime officials describes Jack Straws requests as follows:
Iran not hamper the attack on Iraq and refrain from fomenting problems during the attack;
Iran to close its borders with Iraq during the attack;
Iran to provide an aerial corridor to the coalition forces or close its eyes on Western fighters that enter Iranian air space during the attack;
Iran not to portray an atmosphere that would lead Saddam to think Iran is backing him.
The report says that mullahs accepted all coalition’s requests, except for the aerial corridor, on two conditions:
1. The coalition would bombard PMOI bases in Iraq and not allow PMOI to remain in Iraq;
2. Coalition would accept that Shiites (elements affiliated with the clerical regime, al-Dawa Party, Supreme Islamic Council of Iraq, and 9 Badr) replace Saddam.
Jack Straw responded positively to both requests.
The coalition kept its promise to the mullahs. All PMOI bases were targeted by bombings with Ashraf alone hit 120 times by aerial attacks in just one night.
Hassan Rouhani, the Secretary of regime’s Supreme National Security Council writes in the book of National Security and Nuclear Diplomacy, p. 131, “April and May 2003, the nuclear issue wasn’t much of any topic in the international propaganda and even international politics as everyone was busy with Iraq. Iran’s nuclear issue had gone to the sidelines. With occupation of Iraq and Baghdad’s fall, ElBaradei’s first report was published for the Board of Governor’s session.” Given the atmosphere of appeasement, especially in 2002 and first half of 2003, mullahs’ regime did not expect such a report and even after the report, it believed things can be resolved.
Despite the fact that Western governments constantly stated that they would not accept a nuclear Iran, but the process of 10 years of the mullahs with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Western government, gives away cover ups and contradictory and unreal reports given by the regime and their acceptance by Western institutions and the IAEA, in particular during Mr. ElBaradei’s era in the IAEA. In these 10 years, not one substantiated fact of mullahs’ regime claim to peaceful nuclear program was found; to the contrary, regime’s falsifications and deceptions were proven innumerable times.
Hundreds of facts and reports have even been accumulated in Hassan Rouhani’s book of “National Security and Nuclear Diplomacy” where regime has presented false reports to IAEA and ElBaradei, but all of them have been covered up. Proponents of appeasement know beyond a shred of doubt that mullahs’ peaceful nuclear program is but a myth.
At its best, ten years of negotiations with the mullahs and sanctions by the IAEA and Western countries have only hampered regime’s attempt to attain nuclear weapons. As an example, when in May 2003, PMOI disclosed regime’s nuclear and biological engineering site in Shian-Lavisan, due to IAEA’s insistence to visit the site, mullahs razed the whole complex and even removed several meters deep of its soil and then set up a new center for the commanding center of nuclear weapons called Mojdeh which in its own turn was also exposed by PMOI. This relocation interrupted activities of this center for one year.
In these 10 years, the Iranian Resistance has disclosed centers and sites that are directly involved in the nuclear weapons activities and are mostly under the command of SPND (New Defense Researches Organization) affiliated with the Ministry of Defense. The regime, however, has not allowed IAEA inspections under the pretext that they are military centers and the atomic agency and western countries have given in to the mullahs. Hence, the process to develop the nuclear bomb has continued.
Had the appeasers showed some resolve against the regime in January 2010 when the UNSCR 1737 was adopted, regime’s move to the atom bomb would have been stopped six years ago. In the words of Gholamreza Aghazadeh, former Chief of regime’s Atomic Energy Organization of Iran: in that case, the West did not need to sit down and negotiate in the minute 90 (on the verge of attaining the nuclear bomb).