"During my time at the facility, I understood that there is a workshop
working on enriching uranium for the production of nuclear weapons," Shirani
said.
[On Nov. 29, Teheran reported the killing of an Iranian nuclear
scientist and the injury of another during an insurgency bombing attack.
State television said the wives of the two scientists were injured.]
The Shirani statement was aired on the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya satellite
channel on Nov. 27. Iran has acknowledged that Shirani was a low-level
technician in the nuclear program, but said he did not have access to
classified information.
Shirani said he was brought in to Isfahan by a relative, Ahmed Sultani,
the general manager of the nuclear facility. He said Iran's nuclear weapons
program was fueled by rivalry with neighboring Pakistan.
"Pakistan has nuclear weapons and so we must also get such weapons,"
Shirani said. "It is inconceivable that we should be inferior to Pakistan."
"The workshop was convened on three separate occasions," Shirani said.
"Each time it was held, 50 people worked continuously around the clock."
Shirani, believed held in Iran's southeastern Baluchistan region, said
he worked in the Isfahan facility since 2007. He said he had attended secret
meetings in which senior engineers expressed the need for nuclear weapons.
"Those who were part of the project expressed their determination to
obtain nuclear weapons," Shirani said. "They explained that it must be done
because the enemies of Iran — the United States and Israel — have nuclear
weapons."