Satellite photos reveal Iran's new ‘Desert Plan' nuke program with underground blast sites, vanishing roads & AI drones
Emma Parry, Senior Reporter
Published: Invalid Date,
CHILLING new details of Iran's secret project to develop powerful nuclear warheads for missiles capable of firing over 2,000 miles have been revealed.
Satellite images and new information about the clandestine programme - codenamed the "Desert Plan" - have been uncovered by Iranian resistance networks.
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They warned that the tyrannical regime's dash to obtain deadly nukes had "intensified".
Seven hidden sites in the Semnan province of northern Iran have been identified including an underground base used for nuclear explosion tests.
In a bid to keep the programme under wraps, regime leaders have even deleted roads leading to bases from official maps.
Low-flying aircraft and drones equipped with face recognition technology patrol the area around the sites - and any foreigners who venture near are arrested and interrogated.
The new details, which were gathered by networks inside Iran from the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), were released on Tuesday by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).
They uncovered how the regime initiated its "Kavir Plan" - which means Desert Plan - in 2009 to replaced the regime's previous Amad plan, which was exposed and shut down in 2003.
The Kavir Plan is a series of projects set up under the direct orders of leader Ali Khamenei to develop boosted nuclear warheads for missiles with a range exceeding 2,000 miles or 3,000 kilometres.
That would mean the nuclear warheads could reach US bases in the Middle East as well as countries as far away as Italy, Ukraine, Sudan and parts of Russia.
To mask the Kavir Plan, the regime pretends it has a goal of "desert security" and nuclear weapons are being developed under the guise of manufacturing satellite-launching missiles, the NCRI say.
They have identified seven sites they believe to be related to the Kavir Plan including the Shahroud Site where nuclear warheads for the Ghaem-100 missile are being developed and the Semnan Site, focused on developing nuclear weapons for the Simorgh missile.
The Ivanaki Site is responsible for developing components for the weapons and the Sanjaran Site develops shock wave generators for simultaneous detonation in a nuclear weapon.
Underground explosive testing is conducted at the Sorkheh Hesar Site, while the "Parchin Site (Project 6)" has been identified as engaging in the production of explosives and carrying out testing.
Meanwhile the SPND, the organisation which commands the secret nuclear programme, is believed to be located in the Noor Building in Tehran.
"Tehran has done everything to hide its relentless effort to acquire nuclear weapons.
National Council of Resistance of Iran
The nuclear sites are patrolled by a special unit called the Kavir Security Unit and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who have set up an intelligence base in the area.
To conceal the sites' activities, Iran's Ministry of Intelligence removed the road between Semnan and the provinces of Yazd and Isfahan from the country's official geographic maps to prevent foreign nationals from accessing it, the NCRI claim.
The areas around the sites are monitored by light reconnaissance aircraft and drones with facial recognition cameras mounted on them.
The regime also uses satellite surveillance technology to monitor the area.
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'THREAT TO GLOBAL PEACE'
According to NCRI, foreigners - particularly American and European tourists who travel to the region for scientific or wildlife research, are closely monitored by security and law enforcement in the area by direct order of Khamenei.
They claim the regime "has consistently arrested foreign nationals travelling in the region and subjected them to interrogation".
In a statement, the NCRI said: "The regime's approach to the international community regarding its nuclear activities over these decades can be described as concealment, deception, obfuscation, delaying, and destruction of evidence.
"Tehran has done everything to hide its relentless effort to acquire nuclear weapons. The regime's policy remains one of stalling and delaying to prevent decisive action while
moving forward with its weapons program. The time has come to end this.
"This regime's threat to global peace and stability is not limited to its nuclear program.
How would war between US & Iran would look
by Harvey Geh
IRAN would face a devastating invasion if it followed through on threats to assassinate Donald Trump, according to former US advisor Dr Kenneth Katzman.
US historian Max Boot predicted it would take up to 1.6 million troops out of their total 2.1 million for the US to fully invade and occupy Iran.
Iran would be outnumbered with a total of just 1.2 million troops, 551 aircraft and 1,713 tanks.
The US would have 13,043 aircraft and 4,640 tanks at their disposal, not to mention a much bigger navy and 3,770 nukes.
Experts say a conflict could spiral and drag in Iran's proxy forces across the region.
Among the many targets in Tehran that would be attacked, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Guard Corps (IRGC) would be first on the list.
US strikes would also target nuclear sites in Iran.
"The genocide inside Iran, as confirmed by the UN Special Rapporteur, and the export of terrorism and warmongering necessitate a decisive policy towards it.
"The mullahs' regime is at its most fragile state, facing an explosive society. Since Masoud Pezeshkian was appointed as the regime's president in August, more than 1,300 prisoners—
including women political prisoners—have been executed, and dozens are at imminent risk of execution.
"Regionally, the regime is at its weakest point in four decades, making it more desperate than ever to rely on the nuclear lever.
"Four press conferences by the Iranian Resistance exposing the regime's secret nuclear projects in the past six months demonstrate that Tehran's dash to obtain nuclear weapons has intensified.
"Make no mistake. Nuclear weapons are the regime's life insurance policy."
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The NCRI has now called for all of the regime's nuclear and missile sites to be shut down and dismantled.
They also want to see the snapback mechanism of the Iran nuclear deal triggered, which means sanctions will be reimposed on Iran.
Iran claims it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons and its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only.
However, the UN nuclear watchdog - the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - warned last month that Iran had secretly increased its stockpile of uranium enriched almost to weapons-grade levels.
It made Iran the only non-nuclear-weapon state to have produced such material, according to the IAEA's report.
US intelligence agencies believe Iran has yet to begin a weapons program but say it is in a position to produce a nuclear weapon if it wanted to.
It comes as the US held several rounds of talks with Tehran over a possible nuclear deal, President Donald Trump believes could be completed soon.
However Iranian officials dismissed reports a deal was imminent and said they wouldn't agree to anything unless all sanctions were lifted and their nuclear programme was allowed to continue.
Trump hit back, giving Tehran a chilling deadline to either sign a new nuclear agreement or face military action.
"If they don't make a deal, there will be bombing," Trump said.
"It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before."
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