Iranian dissidents report that Iran is building a secret uranium enrichment site west of Tehran. The People's Mojahedin Organization, a banned political group, announced the existence of a site in Qazvin on Thursday.
The Qazvin facility was built in the mountains beginning in 2005, at a cost of $100 million to date, according to the report. It is now 85% complete. Senior Iranian officials were named as having been involved in the project, including Defense Minister General Ahmad Vahidi.
The dissidents backed their report with satellite images that they said showed the facility. They also said they relied on intelligence sources.
Iranian officials denied the report. “There are no nuclear installations in Iran that the International Atomic Energy Agency is unaware of,” Iran's Atomic Energy Organization head Ali Akbar Salehi said Friday.
“If [the dissidents] really are aware of such installations, they should inform us about it so we can thank them,” he added.
Salehi said the satellite images presented by the People's Mojahedin Organization may show an advanced facility of a different kind. “Facilities which are used for medical and agricultural purposes are not considered nuclear. There are many such facilities in Iran,” he said.
The United Nations has imposed sanctions on Iran over Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment. Iran says its nuclear program will be used for civilian purposes, but many countries fear that Iran's radical leaders actually plan to build nuclear weapons.