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Iranian Opposition Group Reveals Secret Nuclear Site Near Tehran

National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Spokesman Alireza Jafazadeh displaying satellite imaging fora secret new military site near Tehran, NCRI
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Spokesman Alireza Jafazadeh displaying satellite imaging fora secret new military site near Tehran, NCRI
    Paris, London – Asharq Al-Awsat
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Iranian Opposition Group Reveals Secret Nuclear Site Near Tehran

National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Spokesman Alireza Jafazadeh displaying satellite imaging fora secret new military site near Tehran, NCRI
National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) Spokesman Alireza Jafazadeh displaying satellite imaging fora secret new military site near Tehran, NCRI

An exiled Iranian opposition group said it had uncovered a secret new military site which they fear is being used for testing in the Iranian nuclear program.

The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), in a presser held in Washington and broadcast live online on Friday, said that a new site has been built to continue arming the Iranian regime’s nuclear program.

NCRI is the political wing of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, a group blacklisted as terrorist by Tehran.

The construction project of the new site in the Sorkheh-Hessar region in Tehran, started in 2012 and its construction took several years, NCRI revealed by providing satellite footage to corroborate its claims.

The new site is being run by a shadowy defense ministry research unit known as Iran’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND).

“By being located in a military area, it has found an appropriate cover to keep the identities of the personnel working there a secret,” said NCRI spokesman Alireza Jafazadeh.

The SPND is known to conduct experiments with the aim of building nuclear weapons.

NCRI said that its revelation once again proves that fact that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a multinational deal on Iran’s nuclear program agreed in 2015, did not prevent the mullahs’ striving to acquire nuclear weapons and that the regime has even reneged on its commitments stipulated in the JCPOA.

In other news, a member of the Iranian parliament has called for President Hassan Rouhani to be executed.

“Iran's leader should order you [Rouhani] be executed 1,000 times so that the hearts of the Iranian people flourish,” Mojtaba Zolnouri tweeted on Saturday.

The threats made by the cleric were reported by several Iranian media.

Zolnouri is angry about a statement made by Rouhani, which has been interpreted as preparation for negotiations with the US to be able to lead the country out of its current economic crisis.

"If necessary we will wage war, but if necessary also peace," Rouhani said on Wednesday.

For the hardliners, negotiations with the US - considered Iran's arch-enemy - are treason.

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World

‘Unconscious’, ‘Incapacitated’, ...Report Reveals Mojtaba Khamenei’s Status and Whereabouts

A woman walks past a banner depicting Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, along a street in Tehran on April 5, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
A woman walks past a banner depicting Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, along a street in Tehran on April 5, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
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‘Unconscious’, ‘Incapacitated’, ...Report Reveals Mojtaba Khamenei’s Status and Whereabouts

A woman walks past a banner depicting Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, along a street in Tehran on April 5, 2026. (Photo by AFP)
A woman walks past a banner depicting Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, along a street in Tehran on April 5, 2026. (Photo by AFP)

Amid growing ambiguity regarding the health condition of Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, questions are mounting over his ability to effectively manage the country's affairs.

Since reportedly sustaining injuries during US-Israeli strikes in late February, he has limited his communications to written statements, with no direct public appearances.

This comes as purported video footage circulating online appears to show him inside a military control room, fueling speculation about the reality of his condition and his actual role in leading Iran during this critical period.

The Times of London has published new details about the health condition of Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly injured in the same US-Israeli airstrike that killed his father.

The newspaper, citing information drawn from a diplomatic memo, reported that Mojtaba Khamenei is incapacitated and receiving medical treatment in the holy city of Qom. He "is being treated in Qom in a severe condition, unable to be involved in any decision making by the regime".

This marks the first time his location has been disclosed. The central city of Qom lies about 87 miles (approximately 140 kilometers) south of Tehran and serves as the hub of Iran’s Shiite religious establishment and a stronghold for its clerical leadership.

The newspaper reported that US and Israeli intelligence agencies had been aware of his location for some time, though this information had remained undisclosed until now.

It also noted that efforts were made to obtain official comment on the contents of the memo, including outreach to the US National Security Agency, as well as Iran’s mission in Washington, which operates out of the Pakistani embassy.

Arrangements for the Burial of Ali Khamenei

According to the memo, preparations are underway for the burial of the late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, in the city of Qom.

The Times also reported that intelligence agencies have monitored efforts to “laying the groundworks needed to build a large mausoleum in Qom” capable of accommodating “more than one grave,” suggesting the possibility that additional family members—potentially including Mojtaba himself—could be buried alongside the late leader.

Iran has confirmed that Khamenei’s son was injured in the same airstrike that killed his father, as well as his mother, his wife Zahra Haddad-Adel, and one of his sons, on the first day of a war that has engulfed the Middle East for more than five weeks.

Since then, only two statements attributed to him have been broadcast on Iranian state television. On Monday, the channel also aired a video produced using artificial intelligence, showing the leader entering a war room and analyzing a map of Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility.

The absence of any audio recording has further reinforced unconfirmed reports that he remains in critical condition.

Who is in Control in Iran?

Despite continued insistence from Iranian officials that Mojtaba Khamenei remains in charge, a stream of leaks and conflicting reports have painted a very different picture. Opposition groups have claimed he has fallen into a coma, while other accounts suggest he sustained severe injuries, including a broken leg and facial trauma.

According to The Times, these divergent narratives have intensified questions about the true state of power within Tehran’s leadership structure—particularly in a system where the Supreme Leader is regarded as the ultimate political and religious authority.

Speculation therefore is mounting that Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) may be the party effectively holding the reins of power, while Khamenei appears increasingly as a silent figurehead rather than an active decision-maker, the newspaper reported.

World

Train Driver Killed, Dozens Injured as French TGV Collides with Truck

The accident occurred at a level crossing between the towns of Bethune and Lens in the northern French region of Pas-de-Calais. (AFP file)
The accident occurred at a level crossing between the towns of Bethune and Lens in the northern French region of Pas-de-Calais. (AFP file)
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Train Driver Killed, Dozens Injured as French TGV Collides with Truck

The accident occurred at a level crossing between the towns of Bethune and Lens in the northern French region of Pas-de-Calais. (AFP file)
The accident occurred at a level crossing between the towns of Bethune and Lens in the northern French region of Pas-de-Calais. (AFP file)

The driver of a high-speed TGV train was killed and 27 people injured in France on Tuesday when the train collided with a truck, officials said.

The accident occurred at a level crossing between the towns of Bethune and Lens in the northern French region of Pas-de-Calais at around 7:00 am (0500 GMT), said rail operator SNCF.

"I am heading to the scene with the chief executive of the SNCF, Jean Castex," Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on X.

Neither the SNCF nor the prefecture were able to provide details of the circumstances of the accident.

The SNCF said that rail services would be suspended between Bethune and Lens until at least late Tuesday.

In France, serious accidents involving high-speed rail lines are rare compared to traditional railways.

World

Overnight Attacks Kill Children in Ukraine, Russia

The site of a Russian strike on a residential building in Odesa, Ukraine, 06 April 2026, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. (EPA)
The site of a Russian strike on a residential building in Odesa, Ukraine, 06 April 2026, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. (EPA)
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Overnight Attacks Kill Children in Ukraine, Russia

The site of a Russian strike on a residential building in Odesa, Ukraine, 06 April 2026, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. (EPA)
The site of a Russian strike on a residential building in Odesa, Ukraine, 06 April 2026, amid the ongoing Russian invasion. (EPA)

Two boys were killed in Russia and Ukraine overnight, officials said Tuesday, as the two sides exchanged latest strikes more than four years after Moscow sent troops into its neighbor.

Moscow has been launching drones and missiles at Ukraine almost nightly throughout its offensive -- the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II.

Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in recent weeks in a bid to reduce Moscow's earnings from oil exports, as the Middle East war pushes up prices.

As a result of the latest strikes, in Russia a boy born in 2014 was among three people killed in the Vladimir region after a drone struck a residential building, the regional governor said.

In Ukraine, an 11-year-old boy died and five others were wounded when a house caught fire as a result of a drone strike in the Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional military administration said.

In Russia's Vladimir region, two adults and their son, born in 2014, were killed, governor Alexander Avdeev said on Telegram, adding that the couple's five-year-old daughter was in hospital with burns.

According to the Russian defense ministry quoted by media, Russia shot down 45 Ukrainian drones over the country overnight.

In Ukraine, "the enemy attacked four districts of the region more than 10 times with drones," Oleksandr Ganzha, the head of the regional military administration said on Telegram.

A house caught fire while three other homes and a vehicle were damaged in the Synelnykove district, Ganzha said.

"An 11-year-old boy was killed," he added, saying two women and a man were hospitalized. In other areas, strikes sparked fires and damaged an administrative building and power lines, wounding two men.