Iran calls report on alleged secret nuclear weapons site politically motivated

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday dismissed recent satellite imagery reports about a suspected nuclear facility in Iran, linking them to efforts to undermine upcoming nuclear talks with the United States.

“Like clockwork, more Very Scary Satellite Images are being circulated as Iran-US indirect nuclear talks are set to resume,” Araghchi wrote on X, in an apparent reference to a Fox News report citing the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI).

Araghchi accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to influence US policy through proxies. “With his credibility in tatters and exposed as a saboteur, Netanyahu... is turning to both old and new sock puppets,” he wrote. “This time, he is using Saddam’s Iranian henchmen. They may come cheap, but hiring a literal cult only conveys utter desperation.”

The remarks came after Fox News reported, based on NCRI information and satellite images, that Iran has operated a secret tritium extraction facility for more than a decade. The NCRI said the Rainbow Site in Semnan Province is used for tritium extraction, which is “used to enhance nuclear weapons” and has “virtually no peaceful or commercial applications.”