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Iran Covertly Developing Nuclear Warheads to Be Placed on Missiles, Dissident Group Reveals
Unidentified men carrying a model of Iran’s first-ever hypersonic missile, Fattah, past a mosque during a gathering to celebrate a failed Iranian attack on Israel, in Tehran, Iran, on April 15, 2024. Photo: Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect
Iran has covertly ramped up efforts to construct nuclear warheads for solid-fuel missiles at two sites, a coalition of Iranian opposition groups revealed on Friday.
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which seeks to overthrow the country’s Islamist regime, unveiled a new report detailing how the nuclear warheads are intended for solid-fuel missiles with a 3,000-kilometer range and are being constructed at both the Shahrud and Semnan missile test sites in Iran. The initiatives are being spearheaded by the Organization for Advanced Defense Research (SPND), which is responsible for managing Iran’s nuclear weaponization efforts.
“Now, we have documented evidence showing that the missile sites in Shahrud and Semnan are fully coordinated with the regime’s nuclear weaponization body, SPND,” NCRI representative Soona Samsami said at a press conference discussing the group’s findings.
The report was sourced from the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), an Iranian dissident network.
According to the NCRI, the regime’s nuclear efforts are being furtively pursued under the guise of being parts of a new “space initiative.”
While Shahrud has traditionally been used to develop and launch new rockets and satellites, the facility has been collaborating with the SPND to advance Iran’s nuclear ambitions, NCRI claimed. To bolster these efforts, SPND has allegedly deployed new personnel at the Shahrud missile test facility and “camouflaged” its efforts as a “satellite program” when, in reality, they are developing a satellite communication system to track the path of nuclear warheads. Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Ali Jafarabadi has helped develop the Ghaem-100 missile — the main nuclear warhead missile carrier — at the Shahrud site, NCRI said on Friday.
Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), discusses new report about Iranian nuclear efforts on Jan. 31, 2025 in Washington, DC. Photo: Screenshot
Moreover, the regime is reportedly constructing liquid-fuel missiles and nuclear warheads at a facility outside of the Iranian city of Semnan. The SPND has allegedly expanded the mostly underground facility for the stated purpose of “space operations.” The Semnan site currently houses eight complexes, up from two in 2005. A series of underground tunnels connects the complexes to each other, according to NCRI. The SPND Geophysics team — led by key experts Mohammad Javad Zaker, Hamed Aber, and Farhad Moradiani Khosrowabad — uses the Semnan site to conduct underground research regarding “high explosive detonations,” which NCRI claimed is “a key part in the development of nuclear weapons.”
Iran has gone to extensive lengths to hide its alleged nuclear proliferation ambitions and evade accountability from the international community, NCRI said on Friday, noting that SPND attempted to conceal Iran’s activities by creating the “Directorate for Nuclear Treaties,” an office which supposedly helps the regime stay in “compliance” with mandates imposed on its nuclear program. The office engages in negotiations with the United States and Europe to supposedly give updates and receive feedback on the nuclear program.
Iran has claimed that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes rather than building weapons. However, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), reported in December that 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 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.”
NCRI argued, according to a confidential Iranian internal memo, that Tehran is “attempting to buy time through negotiating” with the United States and Europe to “maintain the current status quo to complete its nuclear weapons program.” According to the memo, the regime wants to prolong current negotiations for six months to circumvent United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 — a 2015 resolution which outlines an inspection process for Iranian nuclear sites and establishes an end date for UN sanctions against Tehran.
US President Donald Trump, who withdrew from a 2015 deal with Iran that placed temporary restrictions on the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions, has, along with several European countries, expressed interest in renegotiating a new nuclear agreement with the regime.
However, NCRI recommended that the international community reinstate previous UN sanctions against Iran that were lifted under the 2015 accord. Further, the group said that all Iranian nuclear sites should be closed and the IAEA should be given unfettered access to the facilities for inspection.
The post Iran Covertly Developing Nuclear Warheads to Be Placed on Missiles, Dissident Group Reveals first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Netflix Premieres Adult Animated Comedy Series About Jewish Family
A scene from “Long Story Short.” Photo: Screenshot
Netflix premiered on Friday an adult animated comedy series from “BoJack Horseman” creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg that follows a Jewish family over the course of several decades.
“Long Story Short” revolves around Naomi Schwartz (Lisa Edelstein), Elliot Cooper (Paul Reiser), and their three children – Avi (Ben Feldman), Shira (Abbi Jacobson), and Yoshi (Max Greenfield). The series jumps between time, and viewers follow the Schwooper siblings “from childhood to adulthood and back again, chronicling their triumphs, disappointments, joys, and compromises,” according to a synopsis provided by Netflix.
The extended cast includes Nicole Byer as Shira’s partner and Angelique Cabral. Dave Franco and Michaela Dietz are recurring guest stars. The first episode starts in 1996 and focuses on Avi bringing his girlfriend home to meet his family the same weekend as Yoshi’s bar mitzvah celebration. The episode also addresses Jewish-related topics such as the laws of kosher and the Holocaust.
“I think the show in some ways is about Jewish joy, and I think a lot of Jews will enjoy having a place for the Jews, and I think a lot of antisemites might learn a thing or two,” Bob-Waksberg told Variety on Monday at the show’s premiere at the Tudum Theater in Hollywood, California.
“Long Story Short” – which is Bob-Waksberg’s fourth animated show (“BoJack Horseman,” “Undone,” and “Tuca & Bertie”) and his third with Netflix – was renewed for a second season ahead of its season one premiere. The showrunner told The Hollywood Reporter that “Long Story Short” is “absolutely the most explicitly Jewish thing by a wide margin.”
The show is already facing antisemitic criticism.
“We’ve never not had antisemitism,” he told Variety. “The harassment is already there. I don’t think there’s a Jew in Hollywood, a public, a visible person that doesn’t get constantly harassed on Instagram all day long. An article came out this morning, it was a profile of the show, and I stupidly skimmed the first few comments and they were all … just nothing I want to repeat. But it’s just a buzzkill.”
“People are going to want to talk about the greater global geopolitical issues that are happening around this show, but this show is not about that,” he added.
“Long Story Short” is also from “Samurai Jack” creator Genndy Tartakovsky and “Rick and Morty” writer Matt Roller. Bob-Waksberg is an executive producer alongside Noel Bright and Steven A. Cohen. Corey Campodonico and Alex Bulkley are co-executive producers.
Watch the trailer for “Long Story Short” below.
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Iran, European Powers Agree to Resume Nuclear, Sanctions Talks Next Week
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran, Iran, July 12, 2025. Photo: Hamid Forootan/Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi and his French, British, and German counterparts agreed on Friday to resume talks next week on nuclear and sanctions issues, Iranian state media reported.
The three major European powers have threatened to re-activate United Nations sanctions on Iran under a “snapback” mechanism if Tehran does not return to negotiations on a deal to curb its disputed uranium enrichment program.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul confirmed talks next week and warned Iran that sanctions would snap back into effect unless it reached a verifiable and durable deal to defuse concerns about its nuclear ambitions. He reiterated that time was very short and Iran needed to engage substantively.
Iranian state media said Araqchi and the British, French, and German foreign ministers agreed during a phone call for deputy foreign ministers to continue the talks on Tuesday.
During the call, Araqchi “emphasized the legal and moral incompetence of these countries to resort to the [snapback] mechanism, and warned of the consequences of such an action,” Iranian media reported.
The European trio, along with the US, contend that Iran is using the nuclear energy program to potentially develop weapons capability in violation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran says it seeks only civilian nuclear power.
The Islamic Republic suspended nuclear negotiations with the United States, which were aimed at curbing its accelerating enrichment program, after the US and Israel bombed its nuclear sites during a 12-day war in June.
Since then, inspectors for the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, have been unable to access Iran‘s nuclear installations, despite IAEA chief Rafael Grossi stating that inspections remain essential.
Iran and the three European powers last convened in Geneva on June 20, while the war was still raging, and there were few signs of progress.
Iran‘s state broadcaster said an Iranian delegation was due to travel to Vienna on Friday to meet with IAEA officials. It gave no further details.
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German Government Calls Recognition of Palestinian State ‘Counterproductive’
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attends a joint press conference with Finnish Prime Minister in Turku, Finland, on May 27, 2025. Photo: Lehtikuva/Roni Rekomaa via REUTERS
A German government spokesman said on Friday that Berlin has no current plans to recognize a Palestinian state because that would undermine any efforts to reach a negotiated two-state solution with Israel.
“A negotiated two-state solution remains our goal, even if it seems a long way off today … The recognition of Palestine is more likely to come at the end of such a process, and such decisions would now be rather counterproductive,” the spokesperson said during a press conference.
Countries including Australia, United Kingdom, France, and Canada have recently said they would recognize a Palestinian state under different conditions.
Israel has responded that such recognition would be a “reward” for terrorism following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel. During the ensuing war in Gaza, Hamas has embedded its weapons and military operation centers among civilian sites, a strategy that critics have decried as employing the use of “human shields” against Israel.