Fordo: Did It happen Or didn't It?

Explosion at Fordow: Israeli propaganda or Iran’s biggest secret?
Published: 28 January, 2013, 18:51
Edited: 30 January, 2013, 04:39
TAGS:
Military, Nuclear, Iran, USA, Israel, Security

Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility (Reuters / Handout)

The International Atomic Energy Agency has backed up Tehran’s claims that there was no atomic explosion at one of Iran’s nuclear plans last week. Iran has accused the West of trying to sabotage upcoming talks.
"We understand that Iran has denied that there has been an incident at Fordow. This is consistent with our observations," IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Reports of the explosion at the underground Fordow plant, near the city of Qom, central-northern Iran, originally surfaced on Friday after a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Reza Kahlili, published his report on the WND.com website.
Iran has denied the reports, while Israel and some of US media reported that the explosion occurred and caused significant damage.
The West has maintained that the Fordow plant (which was discovered in 2009) has been producing uranium enriched to 20 per cent fissile purity since late 2011, compared to the 3.5 per cent level required for nuclear energy plants, and has been operating 700 centrifuges there since the start of the year.
‘Sabotage’ and ‘propaganda’
Iran has accused Israel and the US of trying to influence upcoming nuclear negotiations due to happen in coming weeks.
"The false news of an explosion at Fordow is Western propaganda ahead of nuclear negotiations to influence their process and outcome," Reuters quoted the deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, Saeed Shamseddin Bar Broudi, as saying.
While Israeli intelligence has confirmed that the explosion occurred and caused serious damage, but the area had not been evacuated, The Sunday Times reported.
Israel is still in the "preliminary stages of understanding what happened and how significant it is," the UK newspaper quoted one official as saying. It is still unclear whether the explosion was “sabotage or an accident”.
Another source within Israeli intelligence has confirmed the same to The Times of London.
“Israel believes the Iranians have not evacuated the surrounding area. It is unclear whether that is because no harmful substances have been released, or because Tehran is trying to avoid sparking panic among residents,” the source said.
Initial report
The first to report about the explosion was Reza Kahlili for WND.com. The explosion “destroyed much of the installation and trapped about 240 personnel deep underground” including scientists and workers, many of whom are foreign nationals, Kahlili wrote.
The report cites a “source in the security forces protecting Fordow,” who states that the explosion occurred last Monday and that the plant itself is located inside a mountain to protect it from aerial attacks.
“The blast shook facilities within a radius of three miles. Security forces have enforced a no-traffic radius of 15 miles, and the Tehran-Qom highway was shut down for several hours after the blast,” the report said.
The emergency exits have collapsed at the site and regime fears more loss of life due to possible radiation.
On Monday, Kahlili, speaking to the Jerusalem Post, confirmed that the explosion could have been very damaging in terms of radiation leaks.
"This is the center of the Iranian nuclear program. It's essential for the regime, its activities, and its nuclear program. If such a blow was given to Fordow, it definitely harms [Iran] drastically. They were reaching for 20 per cent uranium enrichment, and were increasing output," he added.
Kahlili believes that the alleged explosion will be “receiving more coverage in the US” and that "more information" will become available to verify the incident.
But the credibility of the report has not been confirmed by most of the international media.
And the main problem with it remains that there are no supporting evidence to confirm it, according to Haaretz.
Credibility questioned
The objectivity of the report’s author has been called into question. Kahlili worked for CIA in the 1980s while living in Iran, collecting information, then in a few years he was moved to the US with his family.
“Kahlili himself is a frequent speaker at events in US organized by right-wing organizations and those that support the right in Israel … He also compared the regime in Tehran to that of the Nazis, and called upon Israel to bomb Iran's nuclear installations”, Haaretz journalist Anshel Pfeffer reported.
Right now he makes his living writing books and giving lectures on Iran. Kahlili claims “to still have an impressive network of sources in various government agencies.”
He has never revealed his face, citing fear of retribution as the reason, appearing always in a baseball cap, dark glasses and a surgical mask.
“His employment by the CIA has been confirmed by agency sources and an approving review of his book [A Time to Betray] even appeared on the CIA website,” added Pfeffer.
It has also been pointed out by the media that if the explosion did indeed occur, why were there no satellite photos of emergency vehicles and rescue operations afterwards and no affected relatives speaking out.
Israel involved?
There had been reports of sightings of Israeli aircraft near the facility at the time of the explosion, which Israel has denied, the Sunday Times reported.
Israel’s acting defense minister on Sunday said the news of the explosion is “welcomed” and that any deterrence to Iran’s nuclear program is good news.
However, it has been argued that Israel lacks the capability to penetrate the Fordow site and could not be involved, while the US on the other hand possesses the necessary military technology.
“There have been many references to the fact that Israel doesn’t have strong enough bombs to penetrate [Fordow] from the air, but the US MOP [massive ordnance penetrator] is reported to be able to penetrate it,” Emily Landau, director of the Arms Control and Regional Security Project at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, told the Jerusalem Post, adding that America’s MOP is operational.
The complete shutdown of the Fordow plant was one of the three demands made by the P5+1 Nations (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) on Iran during nuclear talks, which ended last year after officials from the Islamic Republic refused to negotiate.
The West has been concerned that Iran is working towards developing a nuclear weapon. While Iran has maintained its program is peaceful and that it needs to produce highly-enriched uranium for medical use.

Click to expand...

U.N. won’t deny explosions at Iran nuke plan
Appears to backtrack after indicating it affirmed Tehran’s denial

WND

01/30/2013

by REZA KAHLILI

Responding to WND, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, refused to deny that Iran’s nuclear facility at Fordow has been rocked by several explosions.

WND reported exclusively that its source said explosions devastated the Fordow facility Jan. 21 and that over 200 people, including North Korean technicians and military personnel, were trapped inside the site, which is deep under a mountain.

In a statement to Reuters, IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor implied the U.N. agency had inspected the site after the reported explosions and affirmed Tehran’s insistence that the report was false.

But when asked by WND, Tudor would not confirm or deny the incident.

“The agency does not evaluate matters in Iran other than those directly relating to its nuclear verification work, so although we’re aware of these media reports, we are not in a position either to confirm or deny them,” Tudor said in an email to WND.

“That said,” she continued, “I’m sure you are aware that agency inspectors regularly visit Iranian nuclear facilities under the IAEA’s safeguards agreement with that country. (You will find more information on the IAEA’s safeguards mandate and activities in Iran at

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

.)

“We understand Iran has denied that there has been an incident at Fordow, and this is consistent with our observations,” Tudor said.

However, in a follow-up inquiry by WND to verify if the IAEA had inspected the site since the report of the explosions, Tudor refused to answer.

“I’m very sorry but I can’t go into any further details on ongoing safeguards work, which is conducted with a high level of confidentiality,” she replied.

Separately, the Institute for Science and International Security has obtained a satellite image of the Fordow site dated Jan. 22, one day after the incident. The photo shows no unusual activity on the surface. However, WND’s original report indicated the regime did not initially make an effort to rescue the workers trapped inside until days ago. No unusual traffic, therefore, would have been visible.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Fars News Agency reports the Revolutionary Guards navy today began a three-day war maneuver in the Persian Gulf. The state-controlled news service ran the headline: “The preparation of the Guards for the most dangerous events.”

At the same time, the Islamic regime’s Intelligence Ministry announced the arrest of what it called an information network connected to the BBC, the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Further confirmation

WND has received confirmation of the blasts from two additional sources, one in Iran’s Foreign Ministry and another in the intelligence agency of a European country.

Another source in Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s office told WND the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani, will be replaced because of the leaked news on Fordow and the delay in the talks with the 5-plus-1 powers over Iran’s nuclear development. The 5-plus-1 nations are the permanent Security Council members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany.

The news became international when the Israeli intelligence agency confirmed it to the Times of London, the Israeli acting defense minister welcomed the news and the leading German daily Die Welt confirmed it through its own sources.

However, the White House has dismissed the report.

Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Monday, “We have no information to confirm the allegations in the report and we do not believe the report is credible.”

Worries about Iran’s response

An official with a European intelligence agency who cannot be named for security reasons said that both the IAEA and the United States are worried about questioning Iran’s denial.

They are aware of Iran’s lies, the official said, but fear Tehran could stop the cooperation it so far has provided to the IAEA over inspections and derail any future talks with the 5-plus-1.

The official said the regime’s response and its censorship of the details of the news alone verify that some kind of incident took place. He said Iran could lose all negotiating power if it admits the incident happened.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry source, in confirming the explosions, said today the Iranian Air Force is on high alert for war. The regime believes Israel and certain powers have started a plot to destabilize the regime’s nuclear installations and economy.

Internal troubles

Since WND reported the explosions, the Iranian currency, which had already been battered by international sanctions, has lost another 20 percent in value.

A source in the regime’s Revolutionary Guards intelligence unit told WND the situation in Iran is troubling. He reported an explosion at the Guards’ Hamzeh 21 base and the discovery of two bombs at the secret nuclear plant in Najaf Abad. He said Quds Force officers have been ordered to Lebanon to assist Hezbollah in evacuating some of the southern villages in what appears to be planned aggression against Israel.

WND reported Jan. 21 that the regime’s intelligence agency received information of major covert operations planned by Israel and other countries to set back Iran’s nuclear program while avoiding a larger-scale war.

The last meeting between U.N. inspectors and Iranian counterparts was held in Tehran two weeks ago. At the meeting, inspectors failed to get the regime to allow inspection of the Parchin military site where it is believed nuclear component tests were carried out. The inspectors left Tehran Jan. 18, three days before the Fordow explosions.

Last September, Iranian officials said they had thwarted attempted sabotage at the Fordow uranium enrichment plant.

“The enemies intended to repeat a Chernobyl-like disaster through selling (booby-trapped) equipment and blowing up the centrifuges at the Fordow site, but their plot was discovered and foiled by the Iranian scientists’ wisdom and tact,” Abbas-Ali Mansouri, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani, told Fars that separate attacks on Iran’s centrifuges – through tiny explosives meant to disable key parts of the machines – were discovered before the blasts could go off on timers.

Click to expand...