The Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps Use
Universities for Research to
Build the Bomb
Clandestine Nuclear Weapons Program
Statement by
Alireza
Jafarzadeh
President,
National Press
Club,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Based on the information I have received from my
sources inside Iran—these are the sources who have been proven accurate in the
past—The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and the military organs of
the Iranian regime are playing a significant and extensive role in furthering
the regime’s nuclear weapons program. I have exposed in the past how the IRGC
has gained control of the Iranian regime’s nuclear program.
Today, based on precise and verified information
received from
One such institution that plays a pivotal role in
the regime’s nuclear program is
Many tests and research for production of nuclear
weapons take place at Imam Hossein University, which was established in northeast
Tehran in 1986 during the Iran-Iraq war.
The Imam Hossein University is the main academic
facility for training the personnel and commanders of the IRGC and members of
the regime’s intelligence security. The Imam Hossein University, unlike other
universities, is organized like a military structure. In specific, it has a
student brigade and all students are under the command of this brigade. The
chain of command at this university is company commander, platoon commander,
and team commander.
The address for
At present, IRGC Brigadier General Ahmadian, who
is also Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the IRGC, is the commander of
The
The nuclear physics program at Imam Hossein
University is as extensive as Sharif University of Technology, which has the
oldest and largest nuclear physics major in the country.
Two company commanders of the nuclear physics
program are IRGC commander Seyyed Hassan Hosseini and IRGC commander, Reza Haj
Beiglou.
Based on verified information obtained from
sources inside the Iranian regime, one of the nuclear tests conducted at Imam
Hossein University used a Neutron Generator for neutron emission with high
power. The tests were conducted under the supervision of an individual named Fereydoon
Abbasi.
I have
here the names of 21 professors and researchers belonging to Imam Hossein
University who are mainly commanders and personnel of the IRGC.
One of them is Fereydoon Abbasi, whom I mentioned
above. He is in charge of the physics group at the
A number of nuclear experts have been transferred
to the Imam Hossein University following reorganization in the regime’s center
for nuclear research. One of the high-level experts in the IRGC by the name of
Mohammad Tavalaei is working at the Imam Hossein University’s research center.
The Defense Ministry’s nuclear program is also
under the control of the IRGC. The highest ranking nuclear officials within the
Defense Ministry are commanders and officers of IRGC. The details of some of
these individuals are as follows:
·
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh,
has been a member of Scientific Board of the physics college at Imam Hossein
University since 1991. He teaches a class, one day per week at this college. He
is the director of the nuclear program at the Center for Readiness and New
Defense Technology.
·
Mansour
Asgari, is a member of the IRCG. He graduated in 1990 and is a member of
Scientific Board at the physics college in IRGC’s
·
Mohamad Amin
Bassam is a member of the IRGC. Currently he is one of the laser experts in the
nuclear division of the Defense Ministry. He works under the supervision of
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh. He is based and works at Parchin military complex in
IRGC’s Long Involvement in Nuclear Research and Development
The role of the IRGC in the regime’s nuclear
program goes back to 1983. In this regard, most of experts who were trained and
educated by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran’s Center for Nuclear
Research were hired by the IRGC, following their graduation from a 2-year
training program.
In order to gain access to nuclear science and
technology, the IRGC’s research center has initiated an active relationship
with other countries such as Russia and Pakistan. They have had negotiations
and cooperation with these two countries.
In 1987 three IRGC officials met with Abdulghader
(A.Q.) Khan (father of
Starting in 1987, the IRGC, created several
nuclear research offices in various Iranian universities. The most important
ones were located at
In 1993, due to a visit of the International
Atomic Energy Agency to
Following this merger, the IRGC research center
which worked on the nuclear issues, changed its name to “Ministry of Defense’s
Educational Research” center. In addition, all IRGC’s nuclear experts were
transferred to this center. Thus, the Defense Ministry’s nuclear research
center is completely brought under the command and control of the IRGC.
The Defense Ministry’s main research center has
its most recent title as the “Center for Readiness and New Defense Technology.”
It works in conjunction with the IRGC Imam Hossein University, the Malek Ashtar
University of the educational center of the Defense Ministry, and the Parchin
research complex, in order to advance the regime’s nuclear projects. The main
personnel as well as a large number of this complex’s experts are commanders
and members of the IRGC.
Senior Cleric Concedes to Using Universities to
Conceal Nuclear Projects
Cleric Hassan Rowhani, former secretary of the
Supreme National Security Council of the Iranian regime, was the chief nuclear
negotiator with the three European Union countries (England, France and
Germany) from 2003 to 2005. He spoke at the Supreme Council for Cultural
Revolution in October 2005, and conceded to the regime’s concealment and
deception. This speech was published several months later in Rahbord magazine
(No 37, Autumn 2005), which belongs to the center for strategic research of the
regime’s Expediency Council.
In his extensive remarks at Supreme Council for
Cultural Revolution, Rowhani acknowledged that the regime had conducted several tests
under the cover of academic research and tried to keep it hidden from the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Rowhani said that “The IAEA is aware of some
clandestine tests performed years ago. For example, we conducted a test in
In the same speech, Rowhani stipulated that the
regime’s intention behind negotiations was to buy time to complete its atomic
program’s details.
Regarding the freeze negotiated between the
European Union and Iran, Rowhani stated that, “Another issue had come up and it
was that the Europeans gradually realized that in areas which we had
technological problems, we did not accept the suspension. We only accepted
suspension in areas that we did not have technical problems. They recently have
been telling us the same in negotiations; that the Isfahan Uranium Conversion
Facility (UCF), we completed the work at this facility during the suspension
period [suspension of all enrichment-related activities] which transforms the
yellow cake into UF4, and UF6. At the same time when we were talking with
Europeans in
In yet another occasion, Rowhani said: “I have to
explain that we need an opportunity to turn our capabilities into practical
reality. I mean, if one day we could have a complete nuclear fuel cycle, the
world would be faced with a fait accompli and then the entire equation
changes.”
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I want to end by summarizing and explaining the
significance of today’s revelations.
1.
The Iranian
regime is using universities and academic institutions as a cover for research
and development of its nuclear weapons program. Given
2.
3.
Iran is
moving its nuclear weapons program underground, and to military sites making it
even more secretive, and off limits to the IAEA inspectors, while promising
transparency in negotiations; there is a gap between Iranian regime’s deeds and
words.
There are nuclear sites involved in research and
development of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, which remain un-inspected by the
IAEA inspectors to date. Among the sites that have not been inspected are:
·
The
·
Lavizan II
sites in
·
Major
portions of Parchin Military Complex near
·
Underground
secret tunnels in
·
A large number
of IRGC commanders as well as Iranian nuclear experts involved in the nuclear
weapons program have not been interviewed by the IAEA.
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has, in effect, declared
war on the international community and has intensified the war with the people
of Iran. He has brought to power, the new radical president, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, a former IRGC terrorist commander, who is trying to remove all bureaucratic
and practical obstacles to obtaining a nuclear bomb and intervention in
The regime is driving the international community toward crisis,
and Tehran’s nuclear clock is running out. But as Professor Tanter has stated
at this press conference, the Iranian problem has an Iranian solution. The ultimate
solution to regime change in
I concur with Professor Tanter’s call for
multilateral oil, weapons, technological and diplomatic sanctions which should
be immediately implemented against the Iranian regime by the UN Security
Council to counter the Iranian threat.
At the same time, the international community
should reach out to the Iranian people and remove any restrictions from all
Iranian opposition groups and empower them by providing political support and
recognition. A free and democratic
Appendix:
List of the 21 top nuclear physicists of Imam
Hossein University who are commanders and cadres of the Islamic Revolutionary
Guards Corps (IRGC)
1. Fereydoon Abbasi Chair, Physics group
2. Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Member,
Scientific Board
3. Abolfazl Behjat-Panah Member, Scientific Board
4. Mohsen Shayesteh Member,
Scientific Board
5. Ardeshir Bagheri Member,
Scientific Board
6. Amir-Reza Madani Member,
Scientific Board
7. Mohsen Torkaman-Sarabi Member, Scientific Board
8. Yousef Hatefi Member,
Scientific Board
9. Javad Ahmadi Member,
Scientific Board
10. Massoud Abdollahzadeh Member, Scientific Board
11. Seyyed Ali Aghajani Member,
Scientific Board
12. Mohammad Ali Torkaman-Motlagh Member,
Scientific Board
13. Tayeb Madani Member,
Scientific Board
14. Ibrahim Hajali Member,
Scientific Board
15. Mahmoud Abbassi Member,
Scientific Board
16. Mansour Asgari Member,
Scientific Board
17. Javad Khalilzadeh Member,
Scientific Board
18. Ismail Ahmadi Azar Member,
Scientific Board
19. Parviz Hossein-Khani Member,
Scientific Board
20. Hamid Kharazmi Member,
Scientific Board
21. Parviz Parvin Member,
Scientific Board
Satellite imagery of
