Iranian dissident group says Iran has developed a new nuclear bomb-making facility

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) –
An exiled Iranian dissident group says Iran has developed a new nuclear bomb-making facility, the Washington Times reports. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a French- and Albanian-based group working to overthrow the Iranian regime, said Friday it has learned that there is a new facility in Sorkheh-Hesar in northeast Iran.

The Washington Times said the NCRI report could not be verified independently, but that NCRI had cited sources from inside the Iranian government to support its claim. “New information received from sources within the Iranian regime reveals that a new center has been built to continue its work for the weaponization of the Iranian regime’s nuclear program,” deputy director of the NCRI-U.S. Representative Office Alireza Jafarzadeh said.

NCRI was once on US official list of terrorist organization, but now supplies information to the federal government. In particular, the Washington Times notes, “the NCRI revealed in August 2002 the existence of two major covert sites at Natanz and Arak that exposed for the first time the extent of Tehran’s effort to develop a nuclear capability.”

In an interview with the Washington Times, Mr. Jafarzadeh said NCRI has reason to believe the new site is already operational and is being run by Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research. In 2019, the US placed sanctions on 14 people and 17 entities connected to this organization, the Washington Times said.

This newest facility is focused on nuclear testing, conducting “preliminary explosions to build nuclear weapons and record results by seismometers,” NCRI said. NCRI believe it probable that this site will lead to Iran’s obtaining the final capabilities it needs to develop a nuclear weapon. The US is understood to be concerned that Iran is closer to the “breakout point” at which it could develop and deploy a nuclear weapon, the Washington Times reports.

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