The CIA knew about Iran's secret Qom nuclear plant already in 2006, the intelligence agency's director Leon Panetta revealed in a Time magazine interview published Wednesday. European and Israeli intelligence agencies were involved in compiling a presentation on the facility to the United Nations's nuclear watchdog, said Panetta.
"It was built into a mountain; obviously that raised question marks," Panetta reportedly said of the site, located 100 kilometers south of Teheran. The CIA director revealed that he learned of the facility after he was confirmed as head of the agency in January, and said the U.S. worked for efforts to gather more intelligence on the facility, including "conducting covert operations into that area."