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Iran Covertly Ramping Up Nuclear ‘Weaponization’ Work, Dissident Group Reveals
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei visits the Iranian centrifuges in Tehran, Iran, June 11, 2023. Photo: Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran has covertly accelerated activities to construct nuclear weapons despite publicly declaring that its nuclear program is for peaceful, civilian purposes, a coalition of Iranian opposition groups revealed on Thursday.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which seeks to overthrow the country’s Islamist regime, held a press conference in Washington, DC in which it disclosed what it described as new findings about the Iranian nuclear program.
“The Iranian regime is covertly working on the weaponization aspect of its nuclear project to build a warhead, effectively obstructing verification through deceit,” said Soona Samsami, a representative for NCRI in the US.
According to NCRI, the regime has ramped up activity in the Center for Research and Expansion of Technologies on Explosions and Impact (METFAZ), which is part of the country’s bomb-making operation, the Organization for Advanced Defense Research (SPND). The dissident group contends that the regime has intensified research on manufacturing devices to enable nuclear detonation.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the NCRI’s US Office, detailed the group’s findings, which it said were based on extensive research and reports from dissident networks inside Iran.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), presenting new revelations about Iran’s nuclear program in Washington, DC on Dec. 19, 2024. Photo: Provided by NCRI
METFAZ carries out its nuclear enrichment efforts through a shell company called Arvin Kimia Abzaar, which is under the control of Iran’s Ministry of Defense and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an internationally designated terrorist organization, according to NCRI. Arvin Kimia Abzaar, which was established in 2018, publicly claims that its actions are done for the legitimate purpose of expanding Iran’s “oil industry.”
Despite the company’s public declarations, however, NCRI says that the company’s “key personnel” work for the Iranian regime in the field of nuclear advancement. Two members of the company — Saeed Bori and Akbar Motallebizadeh — held major roles in the SPND Organization and worked on nuclear weapons production for Iran. Borji has maintained a role in the IRGC since 1980 and has held important positions in METFAZ. Moreover, Borji has allegedly been instructed on how to build nuclear detonators.
The company has conducted operations in the Sanjarian area, a zone in east Tehran, since April and named the area of its facilities the “Meshkat Complex,” according to NCRI.
The dissident group said that Iran “demonstrates the lowest level of transparency in building a nuclear bomb (compared to other aspect of its nuclear program) and is rapidly advancing toward bomb production” and that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN’s nuclear watchdog, should “absolutely” visit Tehran to inspect the site.
Samsami claimed that “appeasement” efforts toward Iran have been a total failure and that the regime’s leaders have “exploited this window of time to advance its nuclear program and move closer to acquiring nuclear weapons.” The NCRI representative argued that the Iranian regime needs to be held “accountable” for its actions.
Though Samsami did not give specific advice for the incoming Trump administration, he urged the next White House to adopt an unabashedly adversarial posture against Iran.
Once US President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House next month, his administration is widely expected to re-implement sanctions on Iran and adopt a “maximum pressure campaign” against the regime.
The sanctions levied on Iran under the first Trump administration crippled the regime’s economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.
Many argue that the Biden administration’s decision to reverse some sanctions on Iran allowed the regime to increase funding to terrorist groups. During campaign speeches, Trump has repeatedly argued that the current White House’s approach to Iran allowed the regime to inject resources into the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which perpetrated the invasion of and massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7.
Samsami argued that Iranian leaders have been “severely weakened” in the aftermath of the fall of long-time ally Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime earlier this month. With some of its proxies weakened across the Middle East — including Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which had been fighting Israel for over a year — many observers have questioned whether Iran may dash toward a nuclear weapon as a means of self-preservation.
“The only long-term solution to prevent the world’s most dangerous regime from obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapon is its overthrow by the people and the organized resistance — a goal that is more attainable now than ever before,” Samsami said.
Iran has claimed that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes rather than building weapons. However, the IAEA reported earlier this month Iran had greatly accelerated uranium enrichment to close to weapons grade at its Fordow site dug into a mountain. The UK, France, and Germany said in a statement this week that there is no “credible civilian justification” for Iran’s recent nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
In April, a senior IRGC commander suggested that the Iranian regime could reassess its position on nuclear weapons.
Israel has accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, a charge echoed by lawmakers in many allied nations. Leaders in Middle Eastern countries have also expressed concern about Tehran covertly trying to build nuclear weapons.
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Antisemitic Incidents at Argentina Local Soccer Match Spark Official Investigations, Condemnations
Fans of Argentinian soccer club All Boys marched through the streets before their match against Atlanta soccer club, carrying a coffin draped with an Israeli flag alongside Iranian and Palestinian flags. Photo: Screenshot
Argentinian authorities and soccer officials have launched investigations following antisemitic incidents by Club Atlético All Boys fans during Sunday’s local match against Atlanta.
Atlanta, a soccer team based in the Villa Crespo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, has deep historical ties to Argentina’s Jewish community, which has long been a significant presence in the area.
This latest antisemitic incident took place outside the stadium before the game had even started.
All Boys fans were seen waving Palestinian and Iranian flags, carrying a coffin draped with an Israeli flag, and handing out flyers bearing messages like “Free Palestine” and “Israel and Atlanta are the same crap.”
Before a football match today against the Argentine sports club Atlanta, which is closely associated with the Jewish community, fans of the opposing team, All Boys, waved Islamic Republic and Palestinian flags while parading a coffin draped in an Israeli flag through the streets.… pic.twitter.com/IQs4v6eoFz
— Hen Mazzig (@HenMazzig) June 29, 2025
Then, during the match — which ended in a 0-0 draw — a drone carrying a Palestinian flag flew over the stadium, while some fans reportedly chanted anti-Israel slogans.
Local police confirmed they have issued citations to individuals accused of inciting public disorder and related offenses.
On Monday, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) condemned the incidents as “abhorrent” and confirmed the organization has opened a formal inquiry into the events.
“This is not folklore. This is discrimination,” the statement reads.
Argentina’s Security Minister Patricia Bullrich also announced that a criminal complaint has been filed, citing “acts of violence, expressions of racial and religious hatred, and public intimidation.”
In a post on X, the Delegation of Argentine Israelite Associations (DAIA), the country’s Jewish umbrella organization, condemned the incidents and called on both local authorities and the soccer officials to “take firm action against these acts of hatred.”
“We urge the authorities to take all necessary actions and apply the full force of the law,” the statement reads. “Violence and discrimination must have no place in our society.”
Repudiamos enérgicamente las expresiones antisemitas ocurridas hoy en las inmediaciones del estadio Malvinas Argentinas.
Exigimos a las autoridades correspondientes, a la AFA y al Club All Boys que actúen con firmeza ante estos hechos de odio.
La violencia y la discriminación no… pic.twitter.com/3AmY7IQscY— DAIA (@DAIAArgentina) June 29, 2025
Since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Argentina has experienced a surge in antisemitic incidents and anti-Jewish hate crimes.
According to a recent report by DAIA, Argentina experienced a 15 percent increase in antisemitic activity last year, with 687 anti-Jewish hate crimes recorded — up from 598 incidents in 2023 — marking a significant rise nationwide.
The study indicates that 66 percent of the antisemitic incidents originated in the digital realm, with a significant rise in Nazi symbols and conspiracy theories, but there was also a 34 percent increase in reported physical assaults, with such hate crimes rising in schools and neighborhoods.
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Iranian nuclear program degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says
A satellite image of Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility. Photo: File.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran’s nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the U.S. military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.
Sean Parnell, a Pentagon spokesman, offered the figure at a briefing to reporters, adding that the official estimate was “probably closer to two years.” Parnell did not provide evidence to back up his assessment.
“We have degraded their program by one to two years, at least intel assessments inside the Department [of Defense] assess that,” Parnell told a news briefing.
U.S. military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22 using more than a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs and more than two dozen Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles.
The evolving U.S. intelligence about the impact of the strikes is being closely watched, after President Donald Trump said almost immediately after they took place that Iran’s program had been obliterated, language echoed by Parnell at Wednesday’s briefing.
Such conclusions often take the U.S. intelligence community weeks or more to determine.
“All of the intelligence that we’ve seen [has] led us to believe that Iran’s — those facilities especially, have been completely obliterated,” Parnell said.
Over the weekend, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, said that Iran could be producing enriched uranium in a few months, raising doubts about how effective US strikes to destroy Tehran’s nuclear program have been.
Several experts have also cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes and could be hiding it.
But US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said last week he was unaware of intelligence suggesting Iran had moved its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes.
A preliminary assessment last week from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggested that the strikes may have only set back Iran’s nuclear program by months. But Trump administration officials said that assessment was low confidence and had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran’s nuclear program was severely damaged.
According to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, the strikes on the Fordow nuclear site caused severe damage.
“No one exactly knows what has transpired in Fordow. That being said, what we know so far is that the facilities have been seriously and heavily damaged,” Araqchi said in the interview broadcast by CBS News on Tuesday.
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Switzerland Moves to Close Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s Geneva Office Over Legal Irregularities
Palestinians carry aid supplies received from the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Switzerland has moved to shut down the Geneva office of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a US- and Israeli-backed aid group, citing legal irregularities in its establishment.
The GHF began distributing food packages in Gaza in late May, implementing a new aid delivery model aimed at preventing the diversion of supplies by Hamas, as Israel continues its defensive military campaign against the Palestinian terrorist group.
The initiative has drawn criticism from the UN and international organizations, some of which have claimed that Jerusalem is causing starvation in the war-torn enclave.
Israel has vehemently denied such accusations, noting that, until its recently imposed blockade, it had provided significant humanitarian aid in the enclave throughout the war.
Israeli officials have also said much of the aid that flows into Gaza is stolen by Hamas, which uses it for terrorist operations and sells the rest at high prices to Gazan civilians.
With a subsidiary registered in Geneva, the GHF — headquartered in Delaware — reports having delivered over 56 million meals to Palestinians in just one month.
According to a regulatory announcement published Wednesday in the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce, the Federal Supervisory Authority for Foundations (ESA) may order the dissolution of the GHF if no creditors come forward within the legal 30-day period.
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the Swiss decision to shut down its Geneva office.
“The GHF confirmed to the ESA that it had never carried out activities in Switzerland … and that it intends to dissolve the Geneva-registered branch,” the ESA said in a statement.
Last week, Geneva authorities gave the GHF a 30-day deadline to address legal shortcomings or risk facing enforcement measures.
Under local laws and regulations, the foundation failed to meet several requirements: it did not appoint a board member authorized to sign documents domiciled in Switzerland, did not have the minimum three board members, lacked a Swiss bank account and valid address, and operated without an auditing body.
The GHF operates independently from UN-backed mechanisms, which Hamas has sought to reinstate, arguing that these vehicles are more neutral.
Israeli and American officials have rejected those calls, saying Hamas previously exploited UN-run systems to siphon aid for its war effort.
The UN has denied those allegations while expressing concerns that the GHF’s approach forces civilians to risk their safety by traveling long distances across active conflict zones to reach food distribution points.
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