White House Unable to Verify Claim of Secret Iran Nuclear Site

The White House said Thursday it had no way to verify a report by an Iranian exile organization alleging that Tehran was secretly operating a nuclear weapons facility near the capital.

The claim came from the National Council for Resistance in Iran, which said the country was concealing a uranium enrichment site and planned to acquire a nuclear weapon within the year. Tehran rejected the assertion.

Spokesman Scott McClellan, speaking while President George W. Bush traveled to a summit in Santiago, noted that the group appeared on the US terrorism designation list and that Washington maintained no contact with it. He said such allegations fell within the IAEA's mandate to examine as part of its investigation into Iran's nuclear program.

McClellan also pressed Tehran to honor a commitment made with Britain, France, and Germany to suspend sensitive nuclear activities, and to cooperate fully with UN inspectors, including ratifying the additional protocol that governs expanded inspection rights.

Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in November 2004, in its own words.