Iran Atomic Archive
Press Statement
Mike Pompeo
Washington, DC
April 30, 2018
For many years, the Iranian regime has insisted to the world that its nuclear program was peaceful. The documents obtained by Israel from inside of Iran show beyond any doubt that the Iranian regime was not telling the truth. I have personally reviewed many of the Iranian files. Our nonproliferation and intelligence officials have been analyzing tens of thousands of pages and translating them from Farsi. This analytical work will continue for many months. We assess that the documents we have reviewed are authentic.
The documents show that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program for years. Iran sought to develop nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems. Iran hid a vast atomic archive from the world and from the IAEA — until today.
Among the flaws of the Iran nuclear deal was the whitewashing of Iran’s illicit activities related to its military nuclear program. Iran had many opportunities over the years to turn over its files to international inspectors from the IAEA and admit its nuclear weapons work. Instead, they lied to the IAEA repeatedly. They also lied about their program to the six nations who negotiated the Iran nuclear deal. What this means is the deal was not constructed on a foundation of good faith or transparency. It was built on Iran’s lies. Iran’s nuclear deception is inconsistent with Iran’s pledge in the nuclear deal “that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop, or acquire any nuclear weapons.”
We are therefore assessing what the discovery of Iran’s secret nuclear files means for the future of the JCPOA. Allowing restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program to sunset was a mistake. One has to ask: Why exactly was Iran hiding half a ton of nuclear weaponization files while implementing the Iran deal? It is worth recalling that from 2006-2015, Iran was prohibited by Security Council resolutions from enriching any nuclear material. Now that the world knows Iran has lied and is still lying, it is time to revisit the question of whether Iran can be trusted to enrich or control any nuclear material. As the President’s May 12 deadline to fix the Iran deal approaches, I will be consulting with our European allies and other nations on the best way forward in light of what we now know about Iran’s past pursuit of nuclear weapons and its systematic deception of the world.
Let's go through Netanyahu's dog-and-pony show. As you will see, everything he said was already known to the IAEA and published in IAEA GOV/2015/68 (2015). There is literally nothing new here and nothing that changes the wisdom of the JCPOA. 1/10
Let's start with the introduction. Netanyahu tells us that Iran's covert nuclear weapons program was called "Project Amad." Sounds scary. The IAEA, however, has already described Project Amad by name and in great detail in ¶ 22. 2/10
Netanyahu describes Iran's development of a nuclear weapons design, specifically implosion simulations. That's very bad. Also, that's old news. The IAEA assessed that "Iran conducted computer modelling of a nuclear explosive device" in ¶ 58-62. 3/10
Netanyahu also mentioned that Iran was developing an ability to cast uranium cores. The scoundrels! Again, the IAEA documented Iran's "preparatory work, not involving nuclear material, for the fabrication of uranium components for a nuclear explosive device" in ¶ 33-35. 4/10
Netanyahu also mentioned that Iran was designing a multipoint initiation (MPI) system. Not nice! But not new. The IAEA described Iran's MPI efforts and assessed that "the MPI technology developed by Iran has characteristics relevant to a nuclear explosive device" in ¶ 41-46. 5/10
And Netanyahu mentioned preparations for a nuclear test which would upset our friends at the CTBTO. But they know that already because the IAEA noted Iran's "preparatory experimentation relevant to testing a nuclear explosive device" in ¶ 66-68. 6/10
And finally, Netanyahu said Iran was integrating a warhead for the Shahab-3. Again, the IAEA described "work conducted in Iran ... to examine how to integrate a new spherical payload into the existing payload chamber of the re-entry vehicle for the Shahab 3 missile ..." 7/10
By the way, IAEA GOV/2015/68 documents lots of other weapons work that Netanyahu didn't mention. That is why the IAEA concluded in ¶ 87 that Iran had a "coordinated effort" to conduct "a range of activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device." 8/10
In other words, there is nothing new here. We all know Iran had a nuclear weapons program until 2003, and that some activities continued. That is precisely *why* the E3/EU+3 negotiated the JCPOA -- to stop Iran's nuclear weapons program. 9/10
Conversely, if Trump kills the JCPOA, then Iran is likely to revive the nuclear weapons program that Netanyahu just showed in pornographic detail. If you like a nuclear-armed North Korea, you are going to LOVE walking away from the Iran nuclear deal. 10/10
Jeffrey Lewis
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So the 2003 bomb design presented by Bibi fits in Iran's pre-2004 Nodong/Shahab-3 nosecone, but not any of the post-2004 missiles, which use the "baby bottle" geometry. i.e. the extended range Ghadr missiles Bibi highlighted later in his presentation.
An important detail, which suggests that only
#Iran's old Shahab-3 is designed to be nuclear capable. In other words, one of Netanyahu's main arguments is refuted by his own evidence,