Israel Matzav

A new Iranian nuke facility for the New Year

Jennifer Dyer reports on a new Iranian nuclear facility that was exposed by dissidents during the course of Rosh HaShanna.

It’s been a big 48 hours. An Iranian dissident group has provided new information about a suspect facility nestled in the mountains northwest of Tehran, near the city of Qazvin. The People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI) says it has information from sources in Iran that the facility, referred to by authorities as “311,” is supervised by a Mr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh-Mahabadi, an individual who is under UN sanctions for his suspected work on Iran’s nuclear weapons program. PMOI describes it as an underground facility for uranium enrichment. The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a long-time source of initial information on Iran’s nuclear programs, says the facility is run by Iran’s Ministry of Defense, and that construction on the underground facility in question began in 2005. (Oddly, Washington Post didn’t report these particular details, although Haaretz did.)

The Western media note correctly that not all information from Iranian dissident groups has panned out, although it’s also fair to say that we can’t be sure exactly how much of their information has been accurate, because we haven’t had the access needed for decisive validation. The original NCRI/PMOI intelligence on the uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, for example – now declared, and subject to IAEA inspection – was demonstrated to be valid. Other information, on underground facilities reportedly dug on the southern outskirts of Tehran, has not been proven, but substantial elements of it have not been disproven either.

Jennifer says that the evidence supporting the facility's existence is strong but - surprise - the US isn't taking it seriously.

Read the whole thing here or here.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:11 PM