A group of Iranian dissidents has unveiled what it alleges to be a secret nuclear site dedicated to developing a weapon of mass destruction in Iran ahead of a new set of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran.
The goal, according to Alireza Jafarzadeh, spokesperson for the People’s Mojahedin of Iran, also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MeK), is to persuade President Donald Trump to demand the total dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear program in order to create an existential threat to the Islamic Republic.
“The nuclear program of the regime is a tool for their survival, if they accept to abandon their nuclear weapons program, that would clearly be a huge weakness of the regime,” Jafarzadeh told Newsweek.
“It will have a big impact within the regime as the population, which is already saying, ‘How in the world did we spend $2 trillion for nothing, of our wealth, of our money,’ would have, people have more reason to want to overthrow this regime than they already had.”
Newsweek has reached out to the Iranian Mission to the United Nations and the U.S. State Department for comment.
The Revelations
Speaking at a press conference organized Thursday at its Washington, D.C., office, representatives of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) claimed that the Iranian Defense Ministry’s Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research was covertly pursuing nuclear weapons-related research at a location known as the “Rainbow Site” in the Ivanaki area of the north-central province of Semnan.
The site, claimed to be operating under the guise of a paint factory overseen by the Diba Energy Siba company, was said to be involved in the production of a nuclear warhead, specifically for a hydrogen bomb, based on sources linked to MeK.
MeK is the leading faction of NCRI and claims to have an extensive network of members and activists within the Islamic Republic. MeK is designated as a terrorist organization by Iran due to its past involvement in violent attacks and was considered a terrorist organization by the United States as well until its delisting in 2012.
Satellite imagery was shared of the purported site as well as apparently associated off-site air defenses and military infrastructure. Jafarzadeh acknowledged, however, that the imagery did not immediately hold evidence of the alleged activities being conducted there, including the extraction of tritium necessary for the development of a hydrogen bomb and the production of warheads to carry such a weapon.
Still, Jafarzadeh stood by the claims, which he argued were bolstered by information of direct visits to the sites by former top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who was assassinated in a 2020 operation widely linked to Israel.
“The information we released today was entirely proven and verified by the sources on the ground,” Jafarzadeh said. “I use satellite imagery just for people to understand what it is I’m talking about, where is the location of the sites and all of that.”
“And so, the information comes from on the ground,” he added, “people who are familiar with these sites, who know about the people who have been going back and forth there, but also who was behind setting up and constructing these sites dating back to 2009.”
Talks Proceed
Trump first announced in February that he was seeking a “verified nuclear peace agreement, which will let Iran peacefully grow and prosper.”
While the White House has emphasized a unified front on the issue, mixed messages have emerged from the administration as to whether such a deal would result in the total dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear program, which Iranian officials have always argued was solely for civil purposes, or new limits intended to ensure the nation could not develop a nuclear bomb.
Trump has repeatedly stated the single goal of the negotiations was to ensure Iran could not have a nuclear weapon. This view has been backed by Vice President JD Vance, who said Wednesday Iran could still retain a “civil nuclear program” but not a “nuclear weapons program,” as well as past statements by chief negotiator, special envoy Steve Witkoff.
Yet Trump also recently indicated during a Meet the Press interview airing Sunday that he would only accept the “total dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear program, and Witkoff, too, told Fox News last month that “Iran must stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment and weaponization program.” This view has also been previously expressed by former White House national security adviser Mike Waltz.
U.S. and Iranian officials on April 12 participated in their first round of talks of the Trump administration in Oman, with both parties calling the discussions “constructive.” The two sides have since met twice more, with a fourth meeting scheduled for this weekend.
The U.S. and Iran had previously signed a nuclear agreement in 2015, under then-President Barack Obama. The multilateral deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), won the backing of major powers, setting strict limits for Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.
The agreement was scrapped by Trump during his first administration in 2018, prompting Tehran to walk back from its commitments in retaliation for the return of sanctions. His successor, President Joe Biden, entered several rounds of talks in an attempt to reinstate mutual participation in the deal, but discussions ultimately unraveled.
Nuclear Debates
The development of nuclear weapons is officially banned in Iran, dating back to a fatwa, or Islamic legal ruling, issued by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Yet talk of reconsidering this policy has increased among officials and experts over the past year in light of the direct conflict between Israel and the Iran-aligned Axis of Resistance that has erupted on the sidelines of the war in the Gaza Strip.
Iran and Israel have twice exchanged direct strikes, most recently in October, when the Israel Defense Forces claimed to have devastated Iranian air defense networks. Some Israeli officials have called on the U.S. to preemptively strike Iranian nuclear sites, drawing further warnings from Iranian officials.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for pursuing a denuclearization deal “the way it was done in Libya,” which, under longtime leader Muammar el-Qaddafi, shuttered its nuclear program in exchange for peace with the U.S. in 2003. Earlier that same year, the U.S. invaded Iraq on the pretext of President Saddam Hussein developing weapons of mass destruction.
Trump has previously rejected this approach during his ultimately successful nuclear talks with North Korea. He blamed the collapse of negotiations on then-national security adviser John Bolton for his reference to the “Libya model” due to the fact that Qaddafi was ultimately overthrown and slain by a NATO-backed rebellion in 2011.
In his latest remarks, Trump told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday that he would “prefer a strong, verified deal” with Iran, otherwise he could “actually blow ’em up,” referring to Iranian nuclear sites.
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