Paris: An exiled Iranian opposition group claimed today to have evidence of a hidden nuclear site located in tunnels beneath a mountain near the town of Damavand, 70 kilometres (44 miles) northeast of Tehran.
The Paris-based militant group the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), alleges the site has existed since 2006 with the first series of subterranean tunnels and four external depots recently completed.
The group also claims the recently elected president Hassan Rohani, a former nuclear negotiator, had a "key role" in the programme.
Founded in the 1960s to oppose the rule of the Shah, the MEK was considered a terrorist organisation by the United States until last year, and has provided information about the Iranian nuclear programme on several occasions.
"The organisation of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) has discovered credible evidence of a secret new nuclear site, gathered over a year by 50 sources in various parts of the regime," said a statement from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the umbrella group of which MEK is a part.
"The codename of the project is 'Ma'adane-e Charq' (literally 'the mine of the east') or 'Project Kossar'. This site is hidden in a series of tunnels under a mountain near the town of Damavand," it said.
The report added that Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a senior official in Iran's Revolutionary Guard, is also a managing director of a company the MEK claims is overseeing the project's "nuclear, biological and chemical programmes."
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has attempted to speak to Fakhrizadeh in the past without success.
The "next phase" of the project will be the construction of up to 30 tunnels and 30 depots, the report added.
The report concluded: "These revelations demonstrate once again that the Mullahs' regime has no intention of stopping or even suspending the development of a nuclear weapon," the MEK said, calling on the IAEA to visit the secret site.
The Paris-based militant group the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), alleges the site has existed since 2006 with the first series of subterranean tunnels and four external depots recently completed.
The group also claims the recently elected president Hassan Rohani, a former nuclear negotiator, had a "key role" in the programme.
"The organisation of the People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) has discovered credible evidence of a secret new nuclear site, gathered over a year by 50 sources in various parts of the regime," said a statement from the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the umbrella group of which MEK is a part.
Advertisement
The report added that Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a senior official in Iran's Revolutionary Guard, is also a managing director of a company the MEK claims is overseeing the project's "nuclear, biological and chemical programmes."
Advertisement
The "next phase" of the project will be the construction of up to 30 tunnels and 30 depots, the report added.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
US Woman Died After Abortion Ban Delayed Her Medical Care: Report Suspected Donald Trump Gunman Fired No Shots: US Secret Service Iran's New President Vows To Ensure Morality Police Don't "Bother" Women 9 Dead, 2,800 Hurt As Pagers Explode Across Lebanon, Hezbollah Blames Israel IndiGo Flight Tailstrike Leaves Huge Dent During Take-Off From Delhi Airport 'Pager Bombs' Target Hezbollah In Lebanon. What We Know So Far - 5 Points PM Modi To Visit US For Quad Summit, Attend UN Assembly From September 21-24 Ground Report: Central Forces' Canteens Open To Public In Violence-Hit Manipur Air India To Give $400 Million Makeover To Over Half Of Its Fleet Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.