An exiled Iranian opposition group said on Monday it had information about an underground nuclear site being built in Iran and that this was among a number of secret venues for an atomic bomb program.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) exposed Iran'suranium enrichment plant at Natanz and a heavy-water facility at Arak in 2002. But analysts say the NCRI has a mixed track record and a clear agenda of regime change in Tehran.
The Islamic Republic and six world powers will resume negotiations on Wednesday aimed at agreeing the first stage towards a comprehensive deal to end a decade-long standoff with Tehran defusing fears that it could develop nuclear weapons.
Iranian authorities deny any such intention, saying their nuclear program is for peaceful energy only. A diplomatic window to a peaceful solution of the dispute was opened by the election in June of moderate Hassan Rohani as president.
The Paris-based NCRI said members of its affiliated People's Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI) inside the country had obtained reliable information on a new and covert site designated for Iran's nuclear project. But it had no details of what kind of nuclear activity was being carried out there.
"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," NCRI official Mehdi Abrichamtchi told reporters.
