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
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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.



Iran Confirms Arrest of Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala

People hold placards while attending a peaceful sit-in in front of the Prefecture to demand the immediate release of the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Turin, Italy, 29 December 2024. EPA/JESSICA PASQUALON
People hold placards while attending a peaceful sit-in in front of the Prefecture to demand the immediate release of the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Turin, Italy, 29 December 2024. EPA/JESSICA PASQUALON
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Iran Confirms Arrest of Italian Journalist Cecilia Sala

People hold placards while attending a peaceful sit-in in front of the Prefecture to demand the immediate release of the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Turin, Italy, 29 December 2024. EPA/JESSICA PASQUALON
People hold placards while attending a peaceful sit-in in front of the Prefecture to demand the immediate release of the Italian journalist Cecilia Sala in Turin, Italy, 29 December 2024. EPA/JESSICA PASQUALON

Iran's Ministry of Culture confirmed the arrest of Italian journalist Cecilia Sala for "violating the laws” of the country, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.
Cecilia Sala, 29, who works for the newspaper Il Foglio and the podcast company Chora Media, was detained in Tehran on Dec. 19, according to the Italian foreign ministry.

The case of the Italian journalist is "complicated,” but Rome hopes to bring Sala home quickly, Italy's foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, said on Saturday.

Tajani said he hoped the issue could be resolved quickly but added: "It doesn't depend on us."

"We're trying to solve an issue that's complicated," he was quoted as saying by the news agency ANSA.