Iran’s Secret Underground Nuclear Sites

Majid Rafizadeh

While the Obama administration was tirelessly pushing to make a flimsy deal with the Ayatollahs and Mullahs of the Islamist state of Iran, along with going around the world to promoting the idea that Iran should be trusted and given a chance, new crucial revelations and reports about undeclared underground nuclear sites, militaristic long-range missiles, and drone programs have reinforced the true intentions of the clerics and Iranian Islamist leaders.

Firstly, according to reports from the official IRNA news agency, Iran unveiled a missile-equipped drone with a range of 2,000 kilometers (1,200 miles) just a few days ago.  Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan stated, “The Fotros drone has an operational range of 2,000 kilometers and can fly at an altitude of 25,000 feet, with a flight time of 16 to 30 hours”.


While projecting a ceremony and feast for the military development, Dehghan clearly stated that the aircraft was tested “successfully” and “shows that sanctions imposed by the enemies are not an obstacle to the progress of the defense industry.”  Recently, the Iranian army leaders also boasted about establishing and launching an ambitious drone program, which has raised concerns in the region and the West, considering Tehran’s prospective and secret plans and its regional hegemonic ambitions. This ambitious drone program includes producing a series of drones called Rad-85, and as Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards Corps pointed out, it also includes the mass production of the Shahed 129 drone. Shahed 129 is believed to have the ability to carry eight missiles, fly for 24 hours, and go for a range of 1,700 kilometers. Previously, Iranian authorities mentioned that the developed drone Yasseer was based on the design of the US ScanEagle drone, which was captured in December 2012 by the Iranian army.

Besides that, the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI) a group affiliated with the National Council of Resistance of Iran -— the group that first exposed Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment plant in 2002 along with a related heavy-water facility, named Arak — have announced new information about Iran’s clandestine activities. This information comes at a time when Iran is getting closer to nuclear breakaway capacity.

PMOI has also pointed out that they have proof that Tehran has been working on a secret and undeclared underground nuclear facility that will be key to developing an atomic weapons program. According to NCRI’s Mehdi Abrichamtchi in the Ynet News report, “According to specific information obtained by the Iranian resistance, the clerical regime is establishing or completing parallel secret and undeclared sites for its nuclear project.”. It is argued that this clandestine nuclear facility is located inside a large tunnel underneath mountains approximately six miles from the town of Mobarekeh, which is close to the existing military industrial complex, at Haft-e Tir. Accordingly, the site has been in operation under Hassan Rouhani’s presidency as well.

Essentially the issue with these underground nuclear sites such as Fordow and the alleged new undeclared site is that they are virtually indestructible because of their geographical location and installations underground. The plutonium reactor is also indestructible because of the possible danger it creates for the neighboring enrichment. According to FTP, previously, Boroujerdi warned that Iran will never close Fordow; “We have created the conditions for America and the Zionist regime in a way that they will never think of attacking our nuclear sites. Our missiles are a deterrent … but Fordow is one of our red lines.”

The dilemma here is that no matter how much proof and evidence have emerged showing the danger that the Ayatolahs and Mullahs will have on the world and regional security, and no matter whatever is presented to the Obama administration, the administration, particularly President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry and his nuclear team, are launching a campaign to persuade the world and international community that Iran and the Mullahs are trustworthy enough to sign any deal with them and that the world should start easing sanctions on them. President Obama had already started to make deals with the Iranian government and to ease sanctions on them long before the latest nuclear talks were initiated.

Iran’s constant mischievous and Machiavellian polices toward the international community, and its clandestine underground nuclear activities are tremendously alarming. But what is more alarming is that the Obama administration, with its foreign policies, is providing the most powerful blessing for Iran, for the Iranian leaders, this is the best Allah’s blessing.

Stunningly, the Obama administration has even attempted to convince other Western countries including France to ease its relations with Iran to reach a deal. Even Kerry cancelled his visit to Israel on the 15th, despite a claim by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the 17th, in order to give Iranian nuclear talks another chance. Delegates from the Obama administration, primarily Kerry, have been traveling around the world as if they are the promoters and advertisers for the Iranian regime, spreading the idea that the Iranian regime should be trusted and given another chance.

Giving Iran another chance means a nuclear-armed Islamist Iran, based on the radical Islamist ideology of Jihad, and viewing other non-Muslim countries as enemies that should be Islamized or wiped out. For the last 34 years, the Mullahs have been getting chances after chances. The Ayatollahs are just a few months away from obtaining bomb-grade nuclear materials, according to an overwhelming majority of nuclear experts, yet the question remains, how many last chances should be given to Islamist Iran?