Dissidents claim Iran is building a new secret nuclear weapons facility

Dissidents claim Iran has secret nuclear facility

WASHINGTON — Members of an Iranian opposition group claimed Thursday to have discovered a new nuclear site in Iran, but a U.S. official said it appears not to have a nuclear role.

A spokesman, Alireza Jafarzadeh, told reporters that the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran has evidence that Tehran is building a uranium enrichment plant 75 miles west of the capital.

“This is certainly part of their secret nuclear weapons program,” Jafarzadeh said. He said “people within the Iranian regime” provided details about the site, which he said was begun in 2005 and is now 85 percent complete.

The U.S. considers the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran a terrorist group.

A U.S. government official speaking on condition of anonymity said the U.S. has known about the facility for years but has no reason to think it is nuclear. The official asked to speak anonymously because of the sensitivity of the information.