Disclosing a Major Secret Nuclear Site under the Ministry of Defense

 

1. A major nuclear site strictly kept secret is "The Modern Defensive Readiness and Technology Center" (MDRTC) chaired by Mohsen Fakhri Zadeh. The center is located opposite Nobonyad Area, Mozhdeh Street, Lavizan District, Tehran.
2. The above site was previously occupied by the Ordnance Factory Support Center, a subunit of the MD. The support center consisted of three battalions called Beheshti, Troop Transport and Heavy Transport. The battalions were ordered by Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani to evacuate the place a year and a half ago and they were replaced by the MDRTC. The site is located in a 60 acre area and has three entrances in Mozhdeh Street.

a.       The first entrance is from Hussein Abad Sq. where Beheshti battalion was stationed. There is construction work at this entrance.

b.      The second entrance leads to the MDRTC and this is where the troop transport battalion was stationed. Mohsen Fakhri Zadeh's office is located in this part.

c.       The third entrance is situated 500 m from the second and this is where the heavy transport battalion was based. There is a sign at the entrance which reads: The Defensive Industries College. This is where Nader Maghsoodi works and the biological and chemical projects are pursued.

3. The Afore-mentioned center is a secret place and protected by many closed-circuit cameras. Visitors are prohibited from entering the place even those who were working in the same place.
4. Here is an account of the premises in the site:

a.       There are many premises and installations in the site including administration buildings, heavy transport park, bus park, light vehicles park, heavy transport maintenance, gas station and warehouses, all of which have been handed over to the Modern Defensive Readiness and Technology Center.

b.      There are also several buildings in the previous place of Beheshti battalion and the above center started building new premises in recent months.

5. All the equipment and devices in Shian Site were completely moved to the new site and the 11 kinds of activities in nuclear and biological warfare performed there have also been transferred to the new site. Here is a detailed report of the matter:

 

 

Ministry of Defense Secretly Moves Nuclear Equipment

 

The Iranian Defense Ministry has long been using a site secretly in Shian District northeastern of Tehran for its activities until March 2003 when the PMOI and the Iranian Resistance disclosed the information about the above site and announced that it was a center used by the Defense Ministry for technical research and banned activities to achieve weapons of mass destruction. Following the disclosure of the site, the Defense Ministry moved the equipment out of the site and demolished the premises to stop further information of the secret nuclear activities being leaked out.

In March 2004, a series of satellite images taken from Bagh Shian area in Lavizan District were released and it was revealed that the Iranian Ministry of Defense has completely demolished the area and the roads leading to the site in an attempt to eliminate every trace of secret activities.

Subsequently, a team of IAEA inspectors visited Shian site on June 28, 2004. Later, it was stated in Al-Baradee's report that there were 11 kinds of activities being performed in the site and the Iranian regime was not willing to explain to the IAEA inspectors about the activities and the equipment in the site.

Here is the recent information obtained by the PMOI about the Defense Ministry's secret activities for completely demolishing the site and moving its equipment elsewhere:

1.       Following the disclosure of the information on Shian site by the PMOI, the Nuclear Committee of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) chaired by Hassan Rowhani had predicted that the IAEA would certainly visit the site and would find out about the Ministry's secret nuclear activities there. Therefore, the committee decided to completely demolish the site.

2.       Prior to the demolition, the ministry moved the nuclear activities to the secret site of the MDRTC in the MD Ordnance Factory Support Center.

3.       There were two Whole-body Counters devices in the demolished site which were purchased by the Iranian regime from western countries in the 90s for peaceful purposes and the Defense Ministry was using them for nuclear research. One of the devices was moved to Malek Ashtar University in Isfahan (a subunit of the Defense Ministry) and the other was moved to a private clinic in Tehran. The purpose of such move was to take the inspectors to the two places above and claim that the devices have been there since the beginning and thereby deceive them.

4.       In an attempt to explain the demolition of Shian site, Hassan Rowhani on June 27, 2004 said that the piece of land was owned by the municipality and according to a plan a park was going to be built in the place and the Defense Ministry had reached an agreement with the municipality in this respect. But the municipality's documents regarding the region which the PMOI received a copy of it stated that: "Tehran's municipality area 3 in region 4 (Lavizan District) realized that there were demolition works and earth moving operations going on in a military site in the area and because the municipality authorities were not allowed to enter the site they only reported the event to their superiors."

It was stated in the municipality's documents that the property bore no relation to this office and that there had been no difference between the Defense Ministry and the municipality over that property.

To keep the information of the site from leaking out, the MOIS which is a member of the Nuclear Committee of the SNSC ordered that the municipality's reports regarding the matter be destroyed and the employees who had prepared the reports be moved elsewhere.

5.       Regarding the demolition of Shian site, the Iranian regime put up the excuse before the inspectors that the building was demolished as the result of a difference between the Defense Ministry and the municipality and presented a number of articles in the local papers on the issue as a proof of its claim and said that that was the reason for demolishing the building.

Mr. Al-Beradee said that he could not accept that in a country like Iran a military body demolishes its premises for the sake of municipality and at the same time he had no reason to reject it.

Summary

What has so far been said about Iran's nuclear activities in the public is the role of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) but very seldom has been talked about the nuclear activities performed by the Ministry of Defense (MD) and the IRGC whereas these two are the main bodies who are strategically pursuing the project of achieving the atomic bomb. The MD works under the supervision of the IRGC. Here are excerpts of the intelligence reports and details about the nuclear activities pursued by the MD:

 

The Preventive Defense Strategy

Since 1989 when Iran assumed that the USA is a serious threat to her, adopted the strategy of preventive defense. This strategy is based on three points:

• Accepting high human losses in long term wars
• Obtaining rocket defense capability to compensate for the weakness of airpower
• Getting armed with nuclear weapon

 

The deterrent would be achieving the nuclear bomb which stops the US attack on Iran. Following the downfall of the Iraqi regime, Tehran came to this conclusion that the main reason that the US does not attack North Korea comparing to Iraq but negotiates with her is the atomic bomb. So, Iran is trying to arm herself with atomic bomb to avoid being attacked.

 

MD and IAEO, Tehran's Two Nuclear Wings

The MD and the IAEO are the two bodies who are conducting Iran's nuclear activities in a parallel manner. The IAEO is pursuing the nuclear power stations and the fuel cycle whereas the MD is seeking to achieve the atomic bomb technology and keeps all its activities secret from the IAEO. For this reason, redoing of works is a major problem in Iran's nuclear project and many research and preparations are carried out repeatedly and in a parallel manner with huge expenses.

 

Commanding the Nuclear Project

Similar to what was used in the armed forces where the army and the IRGC were coordinated in the General Staff of the Armed Forces the bodies involved in achieving the atomic bomb are coordinated and led in the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). Hassan Rowhani is the SNSC secretary and is in charge of Iran's nuclear file. He is pursuing the project of achieving the atomic bomb with a team consisting of the chairman of the IAEO (Gholamreza Agha Zadeh), the Minister of Defense (Shamkhani), the Minister of Intelligence (Ali Younessi), the Foreign Minister (Kamal Kharrazi) and Khamenei's representative (Ali Akbar Velayati) under Khamenei's direct supervision.

 

The Role of Universities

The universities' experts and professors play a substantial role in three stages of weaponization, research and testing and producing atomic weapon. In this respect, the IAEO actively employs Sharif and Amir Kabir Universities in Tehran and the MD employs Imam Hussein University in Tehran and Malek Ashtar University in Isfahan and Karaj.

 

Organizational Level of Nuclear Activities in the Ministry of Defense

Until a while ago, the nuclear and biological projects in the MD were part of the activities performed by the ministry's Defensive Research Training Institute (DRTI) chaired by Brig. Gen. Dr. Ali Husseini Tash. But these projects have recently been put under direct control of the MD and supervised by the same person. Husseini Tash is now fully concentrating on these projects and he has been promoted as deputy Minister of Defense. He pursues all the issues regarding the nuclear and biological projects with the defense minister Admiral Shamkhani. After Husseini Tash, the DRTI is now chaired by Muhammad Islami.

 

In the organization under Husseini Tash, a highly specialized nuclear expert called Mohsen Fakhri Zadeh is in charge of the nuclear projects and Nader Maghsoodi is in charge of the biological projects.

 

 

 

 

 

Biographies of Four Nuclear Scientists in the Iranian Defense Ministry

 

Name: Mohsen

Surname: Fakhri Zadeh

Father's Name: Hassan

DoB: 1961

Marital Status: Married and has children

Home address: Shahid Mahallati District development houses, Tehran

Home telephone number: 021-2446413

Office address: The Modern Advanced Defensive Technology Center, Mozhdeh Street, Hussein Abad Square, Lavizan District, Tehran

Education: Nuclear engineering

 

Fakhri Zadeh was appointed as a member of the board of scientists in Physics College in the IRGC Imam Hussein University since 1991 and he still occupies the same position. He gives lecture in the college one day a week.

He joined the IRGC in the early days of the Iranian Revolution and still is a member of the IRGC. He started his work with the Iranian Ministry of Defense in nuclear research works before 1991.

Fakhri Zadeh is at the present time in charge of the Ministry of Defense nuclear activities and is the chairman of The Modern Advanced Defensive Technology Center.

 

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Name: Fereydoon

Surname: Abbasi

Father's Name: Muhammad Hussein

DoB: 1958

Marital Status: Married with two children

Home address: Tehran

Office address: The Modern Advanced Defensive Technology Center, Mozhdeh Street, Hussein Abad Square, Lavizan District, Tehran

Education: Nuclear engineering

 

Fereydoon Abbasi joined the IRGC in the early days of the revolution and actively participated in the Iran-Iraq war. Following the cease-fire and while a member of the IRGC, Fereydoon started his PhD studies in Physics in Amir Kabir University (Tehran) and Physics College (Mashhad) and was graduated in 1992. He carried out his research in target and detection under the supervision of Dr. Rahim Koohi, dean of Physics College in Mashhad University. He was appointed as a member of the board of scientists in Physics College in the IRGC Imam Hussein University since 1993. Fereydoon was later promoted as the dean of Physics College and simultaneously started the nuclear research in the Ministry of Defense. He is at the present time a prominent expert in The Modern Advanced Defensive Technology Center. He is also the deputy chairman of the Iranian Physics Society.

 

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Name: Mansoor

Surname: Asgari

Father's Name: Zabihollah

DoB: 1958

Marital Status: Married and has children

Office address: The Modern Advanced Defensive Technology Center, Mozhdeh Street, Hussein Abad Square, Lavizan District, Tehran

Education: Nuclear engineering

 

He is a member of the IRGC and was graduated in 1990 and started working in Physics College in the IRGC Imam Hussein University as a member of the board of scientists and he still keeps the same position. Asgari is presently giving lecture in Physics College one and a half day a week.

He is regarded as a laser expert in The Modern Advanced Defensive Technology Center and works under the supervision of Fakhri Zadeh.

 

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Name: Majid

Surname: Reza Zadeh

Office address: Malek Ashtar University, Shahin Shahr, Isfahan

Education: Nuclear Physics

 

He closely cooperates with Mohsen Fakhri Zadeh in The Modern Advanced Defensive Technology Center. He is also a member of the board of scientists in Malek Ashtar Universities of the Ministries of Defense in Tehran and Isfahan and gives lecture in the two universities. Reza Zadeh is also the chairman of the sciense complex in Malek Ashtar University in Isfahan.

 

Relations between the Ministry of Defense experts and the IAEO

 

1. Since 1989 the IRGC and the MD started their organized activities to achieve the atomic bomb and by this way attracted many nuclear experts who pursued secret but continuous activities to reach the nuclear technologies. It should be noted that Iran's relations with Pakistan and Abdul Ghadi Khan in nuclear affairs started through the MD. In recent years, 400 highly specialized nuclear experts were moved from the IAEO to the MD to be added to the previous expert already there.
2. A number of nuclear experts who work in the MD's secret nuclear projects are:

a.       Dr. Muhammad Bagher Ghofrani: He is a professor in Sharif University and an ex-official of the IAEO, is now doing research works in the IRGC and military institutes for achieving the atomic bomb. He is expert on enrichment processes and is now working on a secret project.

b.      Dr. Muhammadi: He is an official in the Defense Industries Organization but is now based in the nuclear research center in Isfahan.

c.       Muhammad Hussein Kashvarz

d.      Hussein Sadeghi

e.       Parviz Hussein kahni

f.        Dr. Ali Abadi, Malek Ashtar University, IRGC

g.       Dr. Muhammad Hussein Ghezel Ayagh, Malek Ashtar University, IRGC

3. The Defense Ministry sends some of its specialists and experts to the IAEO from time to time to obtain the latest knowledge and expertise. Ismaeeli and Hussein-Zadeh are among the people who have been sent to the IAEO Jaber Ibn Hayan Laboratory for research and they will be there until January 2005. The laboratory is located in Tehran Nuclear Research Center where uranium hexafluride is mixed with calsium in order to produce uranium metal referred to as the uranium rod.
4. But the Defense Ministry does not allow the IAEO experts to get the information on its research results because of its classification and secrecy and the relation is one sided.

 

Centrifuges Experts

 

Two major centrifuge experts are mentioned below:

1. Behzad (eng.): He is in charge of the production department in Kalaye Electric Company and a highly specialized expert on centrifuges in the IAEO. He knows the latest situation of Iran's centrifuges and their capabilities.

Ali Karimi (eng.): He works in the MD's nuclear projects under the supervision of Mohsen Fakhri Zadeh. He also works on the design and production of P2 centrifuges in the Defense Industries organization.

 

Names and Particulars of Nuclear Scientists in Irans Military Organs

The scientists and professors who work in the military institutes or give consultations to them are as follows:

• Dr. Ali Pazirandeh: He is a nuclear physics professor in Tehran University and cooperates with the Special Industries in the Military Industries Organization under the Defense Ministry. Pazirandeh is considered a high level nuclear scientist.
• Dr. Muhammadi: He is a nuclear specialist in assembling and putting to work the centrifuges in Natanz and elsewhere. He is considered as an official in the Defense Industries Organization but is now stationed in Isfahan Nuclear research Center.
• Dr. Nasser Shariflou: He is the director of Bushehr Power Plant and closely cooperates with the Defense Ministry. He is always consulted on research works.
• Dr. Muhammad Bagher Ghofrani: He is a professor in Sharif University in Tehran and a specialist in enrichment processes. He is an ex-official in the Atomic Energy Organization and a nuclear scientist who works with the IRGC and military organs for achieving atomic bomb.
• Dr. Sohrabpour: He is in charge of gamma radiation in the Atomic Energy Organization and a well-known nuclear physics scientist.
• Dr. Ali Muhammadi: He is a professor in physics in Tehran University and a specialist in theoretical physics. He cooperates with the IRGC and Imam Hussein University.
• Dr. Hamid Reza Moshfeq: He is a professor in theoretical nuclear physics and cooperates with the Military Industries and Jihad Sazandegi.
• Dr. Manijeh Rahbar: She is a professor in nuclear reactors and is highly skilled.
• Dr. Majid Shahriyari: He is Sohrabpour deputy in the Atomic Energy Organization and is specialized in enrichment processes and systems. He is also a member in the management board of Nuclear Society which consists of 5 members.
• Dr. Muhammad Lamei: He is a specialist in the Atomic Energy Organization.
• Dr. Rahighee: He is a specialist in the Atomic Energy Organization.
• Dr. Rahim Koohi: He is a specialist in nuclear physics in Mashhad University. He is also the chairman of Irans Nuclear Society.
• Dr. Muhammad Reza Eskandari: He is a specialist in nuclear physics in Shiraz University. He is also a member in the management board of Nuclear Society.
• Dr. Hedayati Pour: He works in Tehran University and also cooperates with the military forces.
• Dr. Kalantari: He is a specialist in nuclear physics in Isfahan University. He also cooperates with the Nuclear Research Center in Isfahan.

The Nuclear Society

• The nuclear scientists in Iran founded The Nuclear Society previously called Irans Coordination Committee for Nuclear Specialists. It adopted the title of The Nuclear Society in 2004. The Society held a seminar in Arak In early 2004 where all the nuclear specialists gathered.
• Although the Iranian Nuclear Society seems to be a body consisting of specialists and university professors active in nuclear physics but in fact it is a body founded by the MD to conduct its projects by employing specialists and university professors. Dr. Fereydoon Abbasi who is involved in Iran's nuclear projects, is the society's deputy.
• The Societys administrative board consists of the following people:
• Dr. Rahim Koohi, the chairman,
• Dr, Fereydoon Abbasi, the deputy,
• Dr. Muhammad Reza Eskandari, member,
• Dr. Majid Shahriyari, member,
• Dr. Raees Ali, member, also chairman of Karaj Nuclear Research Center a sub-unit of the Atomic Energy Organization.