Israel Unveils Thousands of Files Proving Iran Has Sought Nukes

Netanyahu discusses Iran’s “secret nuclear files”. Photo courtesy of: Amos Ben-Gershom (GPO)

Israel has documented evidence from inside Iran that the Islamic Republic has worked to develop nuclear weapons, sought to hide that program from the world while it was still progressing, and lied about it to the United Nations nuclear watchdog. And it’s not just one Iranian nuclear file—it’s over 100,000 of them.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a stunning speech on Monday published by his office, announced that his country’s intelligence operations have recently obtained half a ton of files—55,000 pages-worth of documents and CDs with another 55,000 files on them—from inside Iran’s “secret atomic archives.”

The files show Iran’s research into nuclear weapons and mounting them on missiles, as well as their plot to disguise the program from the world. And it also proves that Iran lied to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about never developing nuclear weapons—thereby violating a key aspect of their nuclear deal with the major world powers.

“The nuclear deal is based on lies. It’s based on Iranian lies and Iranian deception,” said Netanyahu. “100,000 files right here prove that they lied.”

And perhaps almost as disturbing that Iran was working on nuclear weapons in the past is that they were holding on to that research, apparently for later use, even after the nuclear deal was signed. Noted Netanyahu, “Why would a terrorist regime hide and meticulously catalogue its secret nuclear files, if not to use them at a later date.”

The United States, which has seen many of the files, was asking the same question as they approach a deadline in less than two weeks to either fix or nix their involvement in the Iran nuclear deal. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a press statement from his office that they are “assessing” what the files mean for the nuclear accord. He said the files reviewed so far are authentic.

“For many years, the Iranian regime has insisted to the world that its nuclear program was peaceful. The documents obtained by Israel from inside of Iran show beyond any doubt that the Iranian regime was not telling the truth,” said Pompeo.

“… I will be consulting with our European allies and other nations on the best way forward in light of what we now know about Iran’s past pursuit of nuclear weapons and its systematic deception of the world.”

Netanyahu too was discussing the discovery with world powers. In addition to speaking with the US, a separate statement from his office on Monday said Netanyahu already had spoken with the leaders of Russia, Germany and France, with Britain and China on the agenda. Those six nations were the powerful “P5+1” that negotiated the nuclear deal with Iran.

In his speech, Netanyahu said the documents confirm the existence of the Iranian “Project Amad” to develop nukes. That program intended to build and test five 10 kiloton nuclear warheads. “That’s like five Hiroshima bombs to be put on ballistic missiles,” said Netanyahu.

The Israeli leader said that Project Amad had plans for the “five key elements of a nuclear weapons program”—enriched uranium for fuel, cast metal nuclear cores, nuclear implosion systems, nuclear testing and placing the nukes on missiles.

In the early 2000s, Iran was under international pressure and put Project Amad on the shelf. However, plans were made for “special activities” to continue under the guise of scientific work via multiple organizations. In 2018, the organization inheriting the “special activities” is headed by Dr. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who previously led Project Amad.

Looking ahead, Netanyahu warned that the Iran nuclear deal will give Iran “the three components that are necessary to produce” a nuclear arsenal. These would be “unlimited enrichment in a few years”—for which Iran already has plans—failing to address Iran’s missile program, and finally, the deal “completely fails to address Iran’s secret nuclear bomb program and its advanced work on weaponization.”

But noted Netanyahu, “We just did.”

(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, May 1, 2018)

 

 

 

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