USA: PRESS CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN SAYS IRAN HAS A SECRET NUCLEAR FACILITY AT KOLAHDOUZ

Record ID: 647012

  • Title: USA: PRESS CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN SAYS IRAN HAS A SECRET NUCLEAR FACILITY AT KOLAHDOUZ
  • Date: 8th July 2003
  • Summary: (U7) WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JULY 8, 2003) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WS/INTERIOR: OF NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN NEWS CONFERENCE. 0.09 2. CU: MAP OF ALLEGED NUCLEAR SITE. 0.19 3. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALIREZA JAFARZADEH OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN SAYING: "There is a section in this complex now related to the nuclear programme of the Iranian regime, and it's located near the river bank, and it's hidden near other warehouses in a way that would not gain attention." 0.40 4. SCU: REPORTERS AT NEWS CONFERENCE. 0.43 5. CU: CHART DEPICTING ALLEGED IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROCESSING. 0.49 6. SCU: SOUNDBITE (English) ALIREZA JAFARZADEH OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN SAYING: "This is the pilot facility, where the uranium enrichment will take place. It will be perfected, and experience used for this will be used for their bigger ultimate uranium enrichment facility in Natanz." 1.09 7. SCU: REPORTERS AT PRESS BRIEFING. 1.14 8. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALIREZA JAFARZADEH OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF RESISTANCE OF IRAN SAYING: "The whole purpose behind such an ambitious nuclear weapons programme obviously is to gain the upper hand in the region, to create fear and terror, and pave the way for their long-standing ambition of reviving the Ottoman empire, and expanding the very evil rule of the clerics in the region." 1.41 9. MV: JAFARZADEH SPEAKING / PAN TO REPORTERS. 1.50 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 23rd July 2003 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA7TQIDPXCM0I5UPNCAPYWYEJ0U
  • Story Text: An Iranian opposition group said Iran has established a
    new site where it plans to perfect uranium enrichment
    technology for its suspected nuclear weapons programme.



    The National Council of Resistance of Iran on Tuesday
    (July 8) said the Kolahdouz complex west of Tehran is a secret
    facility supervised by the Iranian defence ministry.

    "There is a section in this complex now related to the
    nuclear programme of the Iranian regime, and it's located near
    the river bank, and it's hidden near other warehouses in a way
    that would not gain attention," Alireza (Ah'lee-reh-zah)
    Jafarzadeh (Jah-fahr'zah-deh) of the National Conference of
    Resistance of Iran said.

    The National Council of Resistance of Iran is the
    political arm of Mujahedin e Khalq (MEK), an organisation
    which is listed by the United States government on its list of
    "designated foreign terrorist organisations." The political
    arm, the National Council, maintains an office in Washington
    only a short walk from the White House.

    Jafarzadeh said Iran had created the site at Kolahdouz to
    build redundancy into its nuclear programme and thereby
    protect it from attack. He declined to identify his group's
    sources or to provide substantive evidence to back up its
    assertions.

    "This is the pilot facility, where the uranium enrichment
    will take place. It will be perfected, and experience used for
    this will be used for their bigger ultimate uranium enrichment
    facility in Natanz," Jafarzadeh said.

    Tehran has said its nuclear programme is for peaceful
    purposes to produce energy, but U.S. officials says its true
    aim is to make nuclear weapons, and argue that Iran has little
    need of nuclear power given its large gas and oil reserves.

    "The whole purpose behind such an ambitious nuclear
    weapons programme obviously is to gain the upper hand in the
    region, to create fear and terror, and pave the way for their
    long-standing ambition of reviving the Ottoman empire, and
    expanding the very evil rule of the clerics in the region,"
    Jafarzadeh said.

    The group reported the site at the Kolahdouz facility as
    Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the United Nations nuclear
    watchdog, headed to Tehran to try to persuade the government
    to accept tighter international scrutiny of its nuclear
    programme.

    A U.S. official said Jafarzadeh's group had a checkered
    record on its reporting about Iran but it startled many by
    revealing the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, which was
    later confirmed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.





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