In Washington, a key Iranian opposition activist, Alireza Jafarzadeh,
told a news conference that he discussed Iranian nuclear weapons activities
with members of the U.S. intelligence community. Jafarzadeh said the NIE's
conclusions were influenced by those who sought to play down the Iranian
nuclear threat.
"We've gone back and checked every site that we knew of since 2002 to
see if any of those activities were halted in those sites," Jafarzadeh said.
"With the exception of Lavizan-Shian, no other site was ever shut down."
NCRI said Iran suspended nuclear weapons development in 2003 amid
pressure for intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy
Agency. But the opposition group said the weapons program was resumed in
2004.
In 2002, the Iranian opposition disclosed secret nuclear facilities,
which resulted in IAEA inspections. The group said it receives information
from those within the Iranian government and military.
Mohaddessin said Iran closed the Lavizan-Shian nuclear test center in
2003 and later demolished the site. He said Teheran moved weapons facilities
to other sites and the nuclear program was resumed in 2004.
"They scattered the weaponization program to other locations and
restarted in 2004," Mohaddessin said. "These centers are working just now
for producing nuclear bombs. This is contrary to the United States' National
Intelligence Estimate."
NCRI said the NIE released on Dec. 3 was based on Iranian
disinformation. NIE asserted that Iran had halted its nuclear weapons
program in 2003 and never renewed the effort.
"The clerical regime leaks false information and intelligence to Western
intelligence services, through double agents," Mohaddessin said.
