Iran’s nukesIsrael accuses Iran of having “secret atomic warehouse” near Tehran

Published 28 September 2018

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Iran of having a secret atomic warehouse near Tehran in a UN speech that was dismissed as false by Iranian officials. Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on 27 September, Netanyahu displayed an aerial photograph of the Iranian capital with a red arrow pointing to what he said was an undisclosed warehouse holding nuclear-related material. He contended that the discovery shows Iran is still seeking to develop nuclear weapons, despite its 2015 agreement with world powers to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of global economic sanctions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Iran of having a secret atomic warehouse near Tehran in a UN speech that was dismissed as false by Iranian officials.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly on 27 September, Netanyahu displayed an aerial photograph of the Iranian capital with a red arrow pointing to what he said was an undisclosed warehouse holding nuclear-related material.

He contended that the discovery shows Iran is still seeking to develop nuclear weapons, despite its 2015 agreement with world powers to curb its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of global economic sanctions.

Netanyahu claimed the site near a rug-cleaning plant in the Turquzabad district contained as much as 300 kilograms of radioactive material, some of which has been moved recently.

He called on the UN atomic agency to inspect the location immediately with Geiger counters — a demand echoed later on 27 September by the U.S. State Department.

Iranian officials dismissed the allegations.

“The world will only laugh loudly at this type of false, meaningless, and unnecessary speech and false shows,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi was quoted as saying by Iran’s Fars news agency.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that there should be more scrutiny of Israel’s nuclear program.

“No arts & craft show will ever obfuscate that Israel is the only regime in our region with a ‘secret’ and ‘undeclared’ nuclear weapons program — including an ‘actual atomic arsenal.’ Time for Israel to fess up and open its illegal nuclear weapons program to international inspectors,” Zarif said on Twitter.

“Farcical Claims”

The spokesman of Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Bahram Ghasemi, said Netanyahu’s accusation was “not worth talking about.”

“These farcical claims and the show by the prime minister of the occupying regime [Israel)] were not unexpected,” Ghasemi said on 28 September.

Iran’s deputy foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, mocked Netanyahu, saying the Israeli leader must have been badly advised by some people.