Array ( [type] => 8192 [message] => Using ${var} in strings is deprecated, use {$var} instead [file] => /home3/albnoomy/public_html/wp-content/plugins/elementor-pro/core/editor/editor.php [line] => 129 ) {"id":633,"date":"2021-01-01T03:37:57","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T03:37:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/alb.noo.mybluehost.me\/?p=633"},"modified":"2021-09-30T02:50:16","modified_gmt":"2021-09-30T02:50:16","slug":"iran-the-untold-story-part-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 3 – Iran Nuclear"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X_wEzXxji6I”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Iran: The Untold Story \u2013 Part Three<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

May 9, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2015, with great fanfare, President Barack Obama announced the signature diplomatic achievement of his presidency: \u201cBecause of this deal, the international community will be able to verify that the Islamic Republic of Iran will not develop a nuclear weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n

The deal offered Tehran billions in sanctions relief in exchange for limiting Iran\u2019s nuclear production for 10 years.<\/p>\n

But just three years later, President Donald Trump would undo the deal.<\/p>\n

President Trump: \u201cThe fact is this was a horrible, one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made. It didn\u2019t bring calm, it didn\u2019t bring peace, and it never will.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics of the deal argued that, with its newfound billions, Iran\u2019s hardline regime had expanded its military budget, built nuclear-capable missiles, and continued to fund terrorism.<\/p>\n

Obtaining that kind of detailed secret intelligence on Iran\u2014from behind the Curtain\u2014has become a hallmark of the Iranian resistance.<\/p>\n

U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA): \u201cThe MEK has played a critical role in revealing information on Iran\u2019s illegal nuclear program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, at this August 2002 press conference, the National Council of Resistance of Iran revealed that Iran had built nuclear-related facilities hidden from international inspectors.<\/p>\n

Alireza Jafarzadeh, Middle East expert, author, public speaker, and TV commentator: \u201cMany nuclear programs are at work without any knowledge of International Atomic Energy Agency. They had succeeded to keep it secret until today.\u201d<\/p>\n

That nuclear revelation by the Iranian Resistance became the turning point and triggered for the first time the IAEA\u2019s inspection of Iran\u2019s nuclear sites. Today, nearly two decades later, Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions remain clear\u2014leading to warnings from top national security experts:<\/p>\n

General James Jones: \u201cToday, as was the case in 2010 when I left my post as national security advisor, the Iranian regime remains mankind\u2019s most existential threat to peace and stability. Of this I am certain. That day will come soon when all Iranians will be set free, when all who are forced to flee their homeland to avoid persecution will lead a great parade in Tehran to celebrate the triumphant return of a great people to their rightful position among the family of nations.<\/p>\n

Interview Section<\/strong><\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 We are joined now by Dr. Olli Heinonen, a non-proliferation expert and former Deputy Director at the International Atomic Energy Agency.\u00a0 Dr. Heinonen, thank you so much for being here.<\/p>\n

HEINONEN: Thanks for having me.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 So, first, as an expert on nuclear programs around the world, what can you tell us?\u00a0 What should we know about Iran\u2019s nuclear ambitions?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 I think that Iran justifies its nuclear program by civilian purpose.\u00a0 But at the same time, they have back in their mind, if their security situation changes, they maintain the sensitive technologies like uranium enrichment, so they are in a position, in a fairly short period of time to weaponize their nuclear program if they so decide.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 Is there any doubt in your mind that Iran was building nuclear weapons?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 Iran had a very ambitious program to build nuclear weapons as this archives with Israel recovered last January from Tehran show, and I came to this conclusion already in 2015 where it\u2019s said that Iran had some [0:04:14] feasibility studies in nuclear weapons, but this archive showed that it was much more ambitious [0:04:22].<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 You spoke about the Israeli archives and what they were able to obtain.\u00a0 Can you just walk us through a little bit of what did those Israeli archives of the Iranian nuclear program show us?\u00a0 What were some of the specifics and some of the red flags that people should be aware of?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 I think at the most there are two questions here.\u00a0 First is that why do they maintain?\u00a0 Why you maintain such detailed information about the design of nuclear weapon.\u00a0 The second thing is then you look at the information itself.\u00a0 There was a cohesive plan.\u00a0 So, when this program was stopped in 2002, they had a plan to have by 2004, 2005, five nuclear weapons manufactured, one ready for testing.\u00a0 They had a plan to build a nuclear test site, and they proceeded already with the [0:05:05] experiments.\u00a0 They were building factories or facilities actually to produce nuclear warheads.\u00a0\u00a0 So, this was a serious program.\u00a0 It was not a feasibility study anymore.\u00a0 They had passed that threshold in my view.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 When was the last time that international inspectors were in Iran?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 Actually, they are there every day.\u00a0 They are visiting [0:05:30] and other places, monitoring activities there, and try to make sure that Iran doesn\u2019t proceed its weapons program.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 Now, the Trump administration has pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan Of Action, the JCPOA.\u00a0 What has been the result of that to date?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN: So, far not much in terms of the events on ground.\u00a0 IA continues its normal work.\u00a0 So, the Iranian government has hardships, because of sanctions imposed, etcetera, so I think that the Deputy Foreign Minister Araqchi put it very nicely, that this JCPOA is now in life support.\u00a0 We don\u2019t know how it is going to be implement.\u00a0 Iran is getting slightly nervous by starting to threaten that if the other parties don\u2019t fulfill their obligations, we might want to increase our uranium [0:06:24] capability, which that means if you look at from the point of nuclear weaponization, they are climbing up on the ladder to be closer to be able to weaponize and build a weapon if they so decide.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 Has there been any change in the behavior or in the agreement and the follow-through on the agreement from the other members of the JCPOA or is America the only country that has really markedly shifted or changed its behavior?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 Well, I think that the other parties, particularly France and UK, they are worried about certain aspects of Iranian nuclear program, and that\u2019s why during last winter there were discussions between the parties that whether they could amend or change or fix some of the flaws of the JCPOA, but Iran didn\u2019t agree to that, and that\u2019s why we ended up with the situation that U.S. decided then to (boycott).<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 Now, do you feel that the international community is safer or less safe in terms of the threat of Iran\u2019s nuclear program today versus before the Trump administration pulled out the JCPOA?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 That\u2019s hard to say.\u00a0 You know, I think that I look at more from the technical and process point of view.\u00a0 And I would raise the question, \u201cIs Iran now in a better position to build a nuclear weapon today than what it was, for example, 2015?\u201d\u00a0 And this comes down to the flaws of the agreement, because they have been permitted to continue development of more advanced centrifuges, more powerful centrifuges, which means that they are able to break out quicker if they so want.\u00a0 Then, at the same time, we don\u2019t know whether they have continued their work on the nuclear weapon design, as the papers from this archive show that they had perhaps an idea to that end.\u00a0 And there has been no, in my view, effective monitoring of the military aspects of that program.\u00a0 Have those really terminated or not?<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 Yeah, I was going to ask how transparent is the Iranian nuclear program?\u00a0 Or maybe a better question is how much visibility do we currently have, does the international community have?\u00a0 You mentioned inspectors at the different sites, but are there areas that are still off limits?\u00a0 Are there ways the Iranians could very easily be cheating and hiding important aspects of whatever they\u2019re up to with their nuclear program?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 You know, I would describe the nuclear weapons program like a tent with three poles.\u00a0 One pole is the delivery vehicle, the missile, designed to deliver the nuclear warhead.\u00a0 There\u2019s no monitoring on that at all in the JCPOA or UN Security Council Resolution.\u00a0 So, we don\u2019t know what kind of progress Iran has done, what they have been working also with their [0:09:16], as example.\u00a0 Then it\u2019s the warhead itself, the nuclear explosive.\u00a0 So, IA passed some access rights, but it seems to me that they have not very much exercised it since 2015.\u00a0 So, there is another unknown area (Laguna) where we depend greatly on the intelligence information.\u00a0 And then, it\u2019s the third element where we might be a bit better off, and this is the monitoring of the actual declared facilities in Iran, and then the only drawback there is what if they have some undeclared nuclear material and activities which we have not been able to see yet?\u00a0 And therefore, these archives are important thing to study and dive deeper in to find it out.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 And what has been the role of opposition groups in providing reliable information to the West about Iran\u2019s nuclear program?\u00a0 Have Iranian opposition groups been important in that process?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 \u00a0Yes, particularly in 2002 when they disclosed this Natanz [0:10:21] Iraq activities to the international community.\u00a0 That was perhaps the high point of their sharing (all) information.\u00a0 Then they have had a lot of announcements since then, some of them may be fairly accurate.\u00a0 So, me of them perhaps not that, but this is always with the intelligence information.\u00a0 You never get a full picture.\u00a0 So, yes, it has been important and particularly now enriched at the months we have talk about this organization SPND, so they were bringing some aspects of that program to the public, particularly, I think in 2015.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 And what do we need to know about the separation between Iranian civilian and military nuclear production facilities?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 Well, this was a traditional approach that you have civilian program and then parallel to that, you run a military program.\u00a0 You compartmentalize it.\u00a0 That\u2019s most of the country\u2019s state.\u00a0 So, the civilian program mainly concentrates on building technologies, acquiring knowhow, producing nuclear material.\u00a0 But then, for example, uranium enrichment and you\u2019ll take centrifuges.\u00a0 Actually, you can manufacture the same centrifuges, do R&D public, but then put them under this clandestine secret military installations and run them there to produce [0:11:50] nuclear weapons.\u00a0 And this was the plan of Iran, as the archives show.\u00a0 The Fordow, or as they call it, Al-Ghadir which actually supports the [0:12:02] military installation and not to be part of the public program. =<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 So, what can the international community do to ensure that Iran ends its nuclear weapons program?\u00a0 Is it even possible?<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 It is, but you needed [0:12:12] and the (party) is Iran, that Iran makes this tough decision and let\u2019s clean the history.\u00a0 Let\u2019s put end to that.\u00a0 Let\u2019s destroy those documentation and equipment which are only for that purpose.\u00a0 Perhaps they get a slap on the wrist, but then they can start new.\u00a0 They can start from clean [0:12:33] South African in 1994.<\/p>\n

BUCK SEXTON:\u00a0 Dr. Heinonen, thank you so much for joining us and sharing your expertise.\u00a0 We appreciate it.<\/p>\n

HEINONEN:\u00a0 Thank you very much.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X_wEzXxji6I\"][vc_column_text] Iran: The Untold Story \u2013 Part Three May 9, 2019 In 2015, with great fanfare, President Barack Obama announced the signature diplomatic achievement of his presidency: \u201cBecause of…","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nEpisode 3 - Iran Nuclear - IAC Virginia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Episode 3 - Iran Nuclear - IAC Virginia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IAC Virginia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-01T03:37:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-30T02:50:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/OLLI-HEINONEN.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"624\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"351\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"IAC-VA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"IAC-VA\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/\",\"name\":\"Episode 3 - Iran Nuclear - IAC Virginia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/OLLI-HEINONEN.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-01T03:37:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-30T02:50:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f9fba91ad715c4733719434e3fff7bd2\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/OLLI-HEINONEN.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/OLLI-HEINONEN.jpg\",\"width\":624,\"height\":351},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Episode 3 – Iran Nuclear\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/\",\"name\":\"IAC Virginia\",\"description\":\"Virginia Community\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f9fba91ad715c4733719434e3fff7bd2\",\"name\":\"IAC-VA\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/1.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15ceebce8a287156b68b37a70e4efbeb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/1.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15ceebce8a287156b68b37a70e4efbeb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"IAC-VA\"},\"url\":false}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Episode 3 - Iran Nuclear - IAC Virginia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Episode 3 - Iran Nuclear - IAC Virginia","og_url":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/","og_site_name":"IAC Virginia","article_published_time":"2021-01-01T03:37:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-30T02:50:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":624,"height":351,"url":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/OLLI-HEINONEN.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"IAC-VA","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"IAC-VA","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/","url":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/","name":"Episode 3 - Iran Nuclear - IAC Virginia","isPartOf":{"@id":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/OLLI-HEINONEN.jpg","datePublished":"2021-01-01T03:37:57+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-30T02:50:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f9fba91ad715c4733719434e3fff7bd2"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/OLLI-HEINONEN.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/OLLI-HEINONEN.jpg","width":624,"height":351},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/iac-va.org\/iran-the-untold-story-part-three\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Episode 3 – Iran Nuclear"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/#website","url":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/","name":"IAC Virginia","description":"Virginia Community","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/#\/schema\/person\/f9fba91ad715c4733719434e3fff7bd2","name":"IAC-VA","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/1.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15ceebce8a287156b68b37a70e4efbeb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/1.gravatar.com\/avatar\/15ceebce8a287156b68b37a70e4efbeb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"IAC-VA"},"url":false}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=633"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":984,"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/633\/revisions\/984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iac-va.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}