Iran Nuclear Espionage Battle Intensifies with New Leak Claims

Newsweek

a day ago

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Iran and Israel's shadowy intelligence war has escalated with a group of Iranian dissidents claiming to leak a new nuclear weapons program by the Islamic Republic after Tehran shortly after Tehran alleged to have seized information alleged to be related to Israel's nuclear program.
The latest salvo came Tuesday as the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) unveiled what it alleged to be steps taken by the Iranian government to produce nuclear weapons at a press conference in Washington, D.C. The information was said to have been obtained by the NCRI's leading faction, the Mojahedin-e-Khelq (MeK), also known as the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI).
The so-called "Kavir Plan," according to MeK spokesperson Alireza Jafarzadeh, involved at least six sites in the desert of Iran's Semnan province dedicated to advancing nuclear weapons technology, including the development of warheads and detonators as well as conducting tests. The plan was said to replace the previous "Amad Plan" that reportedly ran from 1999 to 2003, when Jafarzadeh said the MeK's revelations forced the Iranian government to shutter the program.
"The Kavir Plan is not just a replacement for the Amad Plan, but it's a more advanced, a more sophisticated and more secure plan than the original one," Jafarzadeh told Newsweek.
Iranian officials have always denied pursuing nuclear weapons and have long dismissed alleged leaks by the MeK, which Tehran considers to be a terrorist organization.
The MeK's efforts to in expose Iranian nuclear secrets dates back to at least 2002, when the group revealed the existence of the Natanz uranium enrichment site and Arak heavy water plant. The campaign has run in parallel with efforts by Israel to target and unveil covert Iranian nuclear activity, including a 2018 raid by the Mossad intelligence agency through which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed to have obtained up to 100,000 documents related to Iran's nuclear program.
Jafarzadeh declined to comment on whether or not the MeK was cooperating with Israel on the issue. However, he confirmed that the information was being shared with President Donald Trump's administration as well as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
"Here in the United States, we only deal with the U.S. government, U.S. Congress and public," Jafarzadeh said. "So, the U.S. government does have this information. The IAEA also has the information."
Newsweek has reached out to the Iranian Mission to the United Nations, the Israeli Consulate General in New York and the U.S. State Department for comment.
Mojahedin-e-Khelq spokesperson Alireza Jafarzadeh points to a site purported to be linked to Iran's nuclear weapons program during a June 10 press conference in Washington, D.C.
Mojahedin-e-Khelq spokesperson Alireza Jafarzadeh points to a site purported to be linked to Iran's nuclear weapons program during a June 10 press conference in Washington, D.C.
National Council of Resistance of Iran
Israel-Iran Nuclear Tensions
The MeK's latest allegations come amid intensified tensions between Iran and Israel, which has threatened to strike Iranian nuclear facilities, even amid ongoing nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran.
While President Donald Trump has warned Netanyahu against taking such action amid the talks, Iranian officials have threatened to respond with force to any hostilities.
A report issued Monday by Iran's Supreme National Security Council warned Israel's own nuclear sites would be targeted in the event of an Israeli attack. The council claimed that Iranian intelligence had obtained "a vast quantity of strategic and sensitive information and documents" regarding Israel's nuclear program.
That same day, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said that the Iranian claim "seems to refer" to Israel's Soreq Nuclear Research Center. He said this particular site was one that was subject to IAEA inspections, while acknowledging "we don't inspect other strategic parts of the program" in Israel.
Israel is widely believed to be the only nation in the Middle East to possess nuclear weapons, though officials have never confirmed or denied this.
Israeli experts and former nuclear officials have told Newsweek that ensuring no other hostile country in the region obtains such capabilities, part of the so-called "Begin Doctrine," remains a central part of Israel's strategy.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry said that the alleged Israeli documents obtained by the Islamic Republic would be "used by our country's powerful armed forces, and parts of them can be exchanged with friendly countries or presented to anti-Zionist organizations and groups."
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, second right, listens to head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami as he visits an exhibition of Iran's nuclear achievements, in Tehran, Iran, on April 9.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, second right, listens to head of Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Mohammad Eslami as he visits an exhibition of Iran's nuclear achievements, in Tehran, Iran, on April 9.
Office of the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran/AP
The MeK's Role
The MeK was founded in 1965 as a Marxist group opposed to the rule of pro-Western Shah Mohammed Reva Pahlavi. While initially supportive of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that toppled the monarchy and established the current Islamic Republic, the group quickly renewed its armed campaign and sided with then-Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during his country's war with Iran from 1980-1988.
The MeK was listed as a terrorist organization by the U.S. until 2012, and the group has since fostered contacts in Washington. Current and former U.S. officials have alleged that the group operated in tandem with Israel in order to target Iran's nuclear program, including potential involvement in Mossad's campaign of assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists, though neither side has ever confirmed any collusion.
Today, the MeK, led by Maryam Rajavi, is largely based in Albania and France and purports to operate as a parliament-in-exile with a large underground network in Iran. Rajavi also serves as head of the NCRI coalition, succeeding co-founders Massoud Rajavi, her husband who disappeared ahead of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and Abdolhassan Banisadr, Iran's first post-revolution president who later fled to France and died in 2021.
Iranian officials have condemned the MeK due to its past involvement in attacks against Iranian civilians and have dismissed the group as a tool of the U.S., Israel and European countries.
After the MeK, also sometimes known as the MKO, revealed another alleged nuclear site associated with what would later to be alleged to be part of the broader "Kavir Plan," the Iranian Mission to the U.N. issued a statement last month rejecting group's claims and credibility.
"The modus operandi of the terrorist cult known as the MKO demonstrates that it—in a desperate pursuit of recognition—furnishes fabricated reports, disguised as so-called intelligence findings, to Western intelligence services, including those of the United States," the Iranian Mission said in a statement shared with Newsweek and published to X, formerly Twitter, at the time.
"However, once such agencies come to discern the utter unreliability of the absurd reports churned out by the MKO terrorist cult, it then seeks out its next clientele among Western media outlets, aiming to exploit those platforms in order to ride the tide of media momentum," the statement added.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also mocked the group's prior claims in an X post in May, alleging that the campaign was being orchestrated by Netanyahu via "sock puppets."
"This time, he is using Saddam's Iranian henchmen," Araghchi said at the time. "They may come cheap, but hiring a literal cult only conveys utter desperation."
National Council of Resistance of Iran President and Mojahedin-e-Khelq leader Maryam Rajavi delivers a Persian New Years' message from Auvers sur Oise, France on March 20, 2025.
National Council of Resistance of Iran President and Mojahedin-e-Khelq leader Maryam Rajavi delivers a Persian New Years' message from Auvers sur Oise, France on March 20, 2025.
Mousa Mohebbi/SIPA/AP
The Nuclear Talks
The U.S. and Iran have thus far conducted five rounds of talks geared toward exploring the possibility of establishing a new nuclear agreement. Trump, during his first administration, abandoned the previous deal, the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), that set limitations on Iranian nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief and has said he was seeking a better agreement.
While both sides have continued to report progress amid reports of attempts to compromise being made by both parties, a breakthrough has yet to be reported.
Trump signaled during an interview Tuesday with Fox News that Iran had adopted a tougher position, the nation's team was "acting much differently in negotiations than it did just days ago, much more aggressive." He called the apparent shift "surprising" and "disappointing," but said he was awaiting the next meeting.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Monday that Tehran would present a counterproposal to a U.S. offer deemed "unacceptable" when the two sides meet for their sixth round of indirect talks in Oman on Sunday.
Jafarzadeh, for his part, stated that the revelation of the "Kavir Plan" was intended to send a message to the Trump administration to adopt a hard line against Iranian nuclear activities at the talks.
"By showing the plan today," he said, "we call for the halting of the entire nuclear weapons program of the regime, shutting down all the sites, shutting down any enrichment-related activities in Iran, and also their structure."