iran’s covert nuclear activity continues
Thursday 30 January 2025
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

Iran’s covert nuclear activity continues

Egypt Today, egypt today

iran’s covert nuclear activity continues

Oubai Shahbandar

Tehran is still pursuing research and testing that could lead to a weaponized nuclear device, the Iranian opposition said Friday. One military site in particular, Parchin, has come under scrutiny for allegedly continuing covert nuclear weapons work despite Iran’s commitment to end such activity as part of the nuclear deal.
According to intelligence documents released by the National Council of Iranian Resistance (NCIR), Tehran has found new ways to circumvent nuclear inspections and remains committed to continuing military research, which could lead to miniaturized nuclear warheads that could be installed on medium- and long-range ballistic missiles.
For years, Parchin was at the center of Iran’s nuclear weapons work. In 2016, the US and international inspectors concluded that traces of uranium discovered at Parchin in 2015 indicated a complex and fairly advanced nuclear research and testing program, the Wall Street Journal reported.
But as part of the nuclear deal, Iran never had to publicly disclose how far its nuclear weapons development had progressed (it still denies that its nuclear research had any other purpose than civilian use). Parchin is labeled a military base that is off limits to international inspections, on the premise that all nuclear-related work there has ceased. According to recent revelations, this is not the case.
“A new location tied to the nuclear weapons project... has been kept a secret until now and away from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors,” said the NCIR. Its sources within Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) say the engineering unit responsible for the nuclear weapons program, the SPND, is continuing its work on the same scale as before the 2015 nuclear deal.
The intelligence indicates that as part of this program, Iran is continuing its research to develop a trigger for a nuclear weapon at the Center for Research and Expansion of Technologies for Explosion and Impact. This weapon development is conducted under the codename “Research Academy” at Parchin. Since it is declared a “conventional” military site, IAEA inspectors are not allowed in.
Essentially, as Iran was negotiating the nuclear deal, it was trying to develop “back-up” sites to safely move, conceal and continue nuclear weapons research and possible tests. This would enable Iran to play the long game, so when the deal’s terms expire in about a decade, it could theoretically move forward quickly to enrich and weaponize a nuclear device and achieve a nuclear “breakout “capability before anyone can launch a military strike.
This information is particularly important given that as part of the deal, the Obama administration agreed to free seven Iranians in US custody on charges of smuggling dual-use components for Iran’s nuclear and military program. The US also agreed to halt efforts to arrest 14 other sanctioned serial Iranian smugglers and proliferators associated with the IRGC’s Quds Force.
Iran has been allowed to maintain the tools and resources to obtain fissile material for a nuclear bomb. In tandem, it is developing technology to fit a nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile. The raison d’etre of the SPND program and Parchin research center is to convert nuclear research into a nuclear weapon. Iran is able to continue misleading and dissembling on the true purpose of the research center without any meaningful concern for repercussions.
IAEA inspectors have been offered no access to the lead Iranian scientist in the covert nuclear program, Mohsen Mahabadi (alias Dr. Hassan Mohseni). Tehran uses his dual role as an IRGC brigadier general to shield him from international inspection. The NCIR information claims Mahabadi is still active in the SPND’s nuclear weapons research activity.
If the nuclear deal has halted “all pathways” for Iran to become a nuclear power, why are its leading nuclear weapons program officers still allowed to continue their work outside any effective international monitoring?
The NCIR’s revelations include full detailed satellite imagery and an organizational chart of Parchin and SPND weaponization facilities. It would be folly for the international community not to take a closer look at how Iran is planning to use the time and sanctions relief that the nuclear deal affords it to reach its ultimate goal of becoming a nuclear power with the ability to threaten the region with annihilation.

 

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

iran’s covert nuclear activity continues iran’s covert nuclear activity continues



GMT 08:50 2017 Saturday ,06 May

A possible political solution for Syria

GMT 08:35 2017 Saturday ,08 April

Trump makes the right call in Syria

GMT 12:59 2017 Wednesday ,05 April

Time to end Assad’s WMD

GMT 12:27 2017 Friday ,24 March

Iran’s Soleimani must be brought to justice

GMT 13:57 2017 Tuesday ,31 January

Trump calls to Arab leaders a positive sign

GMT 12:21 2017 Wednesday ,11 January

Foreign policy punditry unfair to Trump

GMT 08:14 2012 Wednesday ,14 March

Park Inn by Radisson Muscat awarded

GMT 12:35 2011 Monday ,28 November

Egypt U-23 victorious in Marrakech

GMT 11:56 2012 Friday ,02 March

Nationwide: house prices up by 0.6% in Feb

GMT 11:42 2017 Thursday ,10 August

VP attends Oaks stakes at Epsom Downs Racecourse

GMT 11:45 2016 Monday ,27 June

Ireland take suprise halftime lead over France

GMT 09:13 2017 Friday ,29 December

Bitcoin falls on S.Korea curbs

GMT 14:56 2017 Tuesday ,26 December

Oman shares end lower amid thin trading

GMT 09:03 2017 Saturday ,16 December

Saudi to open a new export bank

GMT 19:50 2015 Monday ,23 February

170,000 job opportunities provided since March 2013

GMT 10:59 2013 Monday ,02 December

Water decontamination system in trouble

GMT 18:50 2012 Monday ,20 February

Ryder to take on SA after injury

GMT 07:40 2017 Wednesday ,29 November

Small Catalan companies tempted to relocate

GMT 13:19 2017 Sunday ,22 January

Oman shares rise on improved trading activity

GMT 15:37 2018 Sunday ,25 November

Fahm Al Salami hails Bahrain's successful polls

GMT 11:40 2018 Wednesday ,26 September

Government Treasury Bills issue 1723 oversubscribed

GMT 23:58 2011 Thursday ,08 September

One day

GMT 11:13 2016 Monday ,04 July

Eid in UAE demonstrates customs, traditions

GMT 21:26 2016 Thursday ,01 September

US journalist Lindsey Snell detained in Turkey

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday