Israel’s Netanyahu: Iran destroyed secret nuclear weapons site after its existence was uncovered
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A remote site that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says was used by Iran to conduct “experiments to develop nuclear weapons” has now been wiped off the map, satellite images show.
The group of buildings hidden in the hills outside of the city of Abadeh was discovered using information gathered in a trove of documents Israeli agents stole from an Iranian warehouse and made public early last year, Netanyahu announced Monday during a televised speech. He also claimed Iran recently destroyed the site after learning that Israel became aware of its existence.
“In this site, Iran conducted experiments to develop nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said according to Reuters.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A March 27 satellite image of the Iranian site provided by Maxar Technologies shows a compound with a series of buildings surrounding a courtyard, with other smaller structures away from it. (AP/Maxar Tec)
He provided no details or evidence of what those experiments were, but he showed off two satellite photos. The first, taken in June, showed the facility intact. The second, taken in July, showed parts of a building there that had been destroyed, in what he said was an Iranian cover-up.
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"This is what I have to say to the tyrants of Tehran," Netanyahu continued. "Israel knows what you're doing, Israel knows when you're doing it, and Israel knows where you're doing it."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Satellite images of the site obtained by The Associated Press from Maxar Technologies showed a compound with a series of buildings surrounding a courtyard, with other smaller structures away from it. A dirt road appeared to be the only access to the site in a March 27 image – and the next closest structure to the site appears to be about 5 miles away.
An Aug. 12 satellite image of the same site shows many of its buildings destroyed. (AP/Maxar Tec)
Another image from Aug. 12 showed all the structures at the site destroyed, with a few walls still standing. Neither satellite photo showed any visible activity at the time the photographs were taken.
In response to Netanyahu's announcement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif posted on Twitter a 2002 video of Netanyahu speaking about what he saw as the "positive reverberations" that would come with the overthrow of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
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"The possessor of REAL nukes cries wolf - on an ALLEGED 'demolished' site in Iran," Zarif said, referring to Israel's never-acknowledged nuclear weapons program.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}But Zarif did not address what the Iranian site was, nor why it appeared to be demolished in Netanyahu's presentation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.