Iran is secretly developing nuclear missiles with the ability to reach Europe based on designs handed to the Islamic regime by North Korea, a new report released by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) claimed. According to the report, the weapons are being produced at two sites disguised as satellite launch facilities. The NCRI, an exiled opposition group, said that Tehran is expediting its alleged nuclear weapons program at these facilities. It also stated that the missiles are capable of travelling more than 3,000 km (1,800) miles, potentially targeting Europe.
Citing the report, the New York Post reported that one of the facilities the NCRI flagged as a nuclear weapons site was the Shahrud missiles facility, which is being run by Iran’s Organization for Advanced Defense Research and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The group believes that the nuclear warhead being developed at the site would be fitted on a Ghaem-100 missile and would be capable of reaching as far as Greece.
It also estimates that Iran has already tested the rocket launchers at the Shahrud facility at least three times. Those rocket launches were allegedly concealed as part of satellite launches, the NCRI claims. It believes that IRGC is planning to test launch more advanced Ghaem rockets in the coming months.
The second testing facility is believed to be located more than 43 miles southeast of Semnan, where Tehran is developing Simorgh missiles based on North Korean designs. In its report, the NCRI said that portions of this site are hidden underground. It also accused Tehran of expanding this site since 2005.
According to NCRI, the program in Semnan is allegedly kept under wraps by linking it to Iran’s space program and establishing the Khomeini Space Launch Terminal.
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Tehran is desperately working to keep the international community out of Iran and maintain the status quo as a means to buy time to fulfil its nuclear ambitions, said Soona Samsami, a US representative of the NCRI.
However, Samsami added that Israel’s attacks against Tehran’s air defence systems last year have created the perfect chance for the West to end Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “Tehran has never been as weak and vulnerable as it is today. The desperate Iranian regime is thus speeding up the development of nuclear weapons,” Samsami told The Telegraph.
“Now is the time to hold the regime accountable for internal killings, regional warmongering, and nuclear weapons development,” she added.