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Alireza Jafarzadeh

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Alireza Jafarzadeh
Born
Mashhad, Imperial State of Iran
Occupation(s)Middle East commentator, public speaker
Political partyPeople's Mujahedin of Iran
Websitealirezajafarzadeh.org

Alireza Jafarzadeh is an Iranian dissident, media commentator on the Middle East,[1] and US representative of the People's Mujahedin of Iran.[2] He is known for releasing information on Iran's secret nuclear program.

Career

Jafarzadeh has published columns and appeared on television interviews both in conservative and liberal media. He seems to have bi-partisan respect for his work. Jafarzadeh has a regular column on the Huffington Post.[3]

In 2006, Jafarzadeh was introduced as the last representative of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in an interview with Claude Salhani in which he responded to comments by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made towards Israel.[4]

In 2007, Jafarzadeh was a guest on CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight news show (6:00 pm ET) discussing Iran's proxy war in Iraq.[5]

Intelligence disclosures

In 2002, Jafarzadeh drew worldwide attention by revealing that Iran was running a secret nuclear facility in Natanz, and a dideuterium oxide facility in Arak. These revelations led to inspections of the sites by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). After their first inspection, IAEA, said in a report on Iran's nuclear activity that traces of uranium, greater than what is needed for a civilian power program, were found on Iranian nuclear equipment. However, Iran claimed that the source of the uranium was equipment imported to Iran from Pakistan.[6] These revelations eventually led to United Nations Security Council's imposing sanctions on Iran on December 23, 2006, over its nuclear program.[7]

In 2007, Jafarzadeh claimed that Iran's government had sharply increased its efforts to fan sectarian violence in Iraq, easily transferring money and arms across the Iraqi border.[8]

In 2010, Jafarzadeh revealed satellite imagery and program details of a secret underground uranium enrichment facility under construction in Behjat-abad near Tehran, drawing international attention.[9] In April 2011, Jafarzadeh then revealed a new nuclear site known as TABA, where Iran has secretly built centrifuge parts.[10] In July, he further detailed the reorganization of Iran's nuclear program and the formation of a new organization run by the Defense Ministry, known by its Persian acronym, SPND, which oversees all nuclear weaponization work under the direct supervision of Iran's top nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh Mahabadi. The information was compiled by the network inside Iran of Iran's opposition group, the MEK. This information provided by Jafarzadeh was later reflected in the November 2011 report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).[11]

In 2015, Jafarzadeh revealed that Iran has a hidden site, known as Lavizan-3, in a military complex in Tehran, where Iran has worked on research and development of advanced centrifuges, including IR-2m, and secretly enriched uranium in violation of the Joint Plan of Action. Members of Congress asked Secretary John Kerry about Lavizan-3, which he promised to follow up on. Still, there are no follow-up reports in the media suggesting that the United States or the IAEA has acted on this.[12]

Controversy

Jafarzadeh's association with the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) which is associated with the People's Mujahedin of Iran (Mujahedin-e Khalq, MEK, PMOI, or MKO) was a source of controversy for some time. Jafarzadeh was the public spokesperson for the National Council of Resistance of Iran until its office in Washington was closed by the US State Department in 2003 because it was too closely associated with the People's Mujahedin of Iran, which is listed as a terrorist organisation by the US State Department.[1][13]

Jafarzadeh's name appeared in the media in a Houston Chronicle article dated December 24, 1986, where he is described as a spokesman for the MEK.[14] In the article he denied US State Department claims that the MEK was a terrorist organization responsible for the assassination of at least six Americans in Iran.[14] In the same article, Jafarzadeh compared the MEK's resistance activities to those of the US Founding Fathers.[14]

The designation was removed in 2012 due to a decision by then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. MEK members in Iraq had been disarmed after the Iraq War. The decision was made after the organization agreed to help with the removal of its members from Camp Ashraf in Iraq and their resettlement to other countries.[15]

References

  1. ^ a b Rozen, Laura (June 25, 2006). "Iran on the Potomac". The Washington Post. p. B05. Archived from the original on December 29, 2016. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
  2. ^ "Giving Short Sift to Iran's Mojahedin". Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  3. ^ "Alireza Jafarzadeh Bio and his columns in the Huffington Post". Huffington Post. January 1, 2010. Archived from the original on October 20, 2011. Retrieved October 25, 2011.
  4. ^ Salhani, Claude (December 14, 2006). "Politics & Policies: Ahmadinejad's Antics". United Press International. Archived from the original on May 25, 2006. Retrieved December 13, 2006.
  5. ^ "CNN Lou Dobbs Interviews Alireza Jafarzadeh - November 5, 2007". CNN Lou Dobbs. January 15, 2007. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  6. ^ "U.S. to seek IAEA action on Iran nukes". CNN.com. September 5, 2003. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008. Retrieved January 8, 2007.
  7. ^ "Security Council approves sanctions on Iran over nuclear program". New York Times. December 23, 2006. Archived from the original on November 15, 2017. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  8. ^ Giacomo, Carol (September 5, 2003). "Iran exile says Tehran steps up efforts in Iraq". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  9. ^ Sanger, David E. (September 9, 2010). "Dissidents Claim Iran Is Building a New Enrichment Site". New York Times. Archived from the original on February 28, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2017.
  10. ^ Warrick, Joby (April 7, 2011). "Dissident group says Iran factory really a nuke site". Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  11. ^ "Opposition: Iran consolidates nuclear bomb effort 23 July 2011". USA Today. July 23, 2011. Archived from the original on December 2, 2014. Retrieved November 21, 2014.
  12. ^ "Exile group accuses Iran of secret nuclear weapons research". The Washington Post. February 24, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
  13. ^ Lorimer, Doug (February 22, 2006). "IRAN: US relies on terrorists for nuke 'intelligence'". Green Left Weekly (657). Archived from the original on March 8, 2006. Retrieved May 1, 2006.
  14. ^ a b c Trounson, Rebecca (December 24, 1986). "Iranian torture victims denounce arms sales". Houston Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 22, 2008. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  15. ^ Shane, Scott (September 21, 2012). "Iranian Dissidents Convince U.S. to Drop Terror Label". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 11, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2016.
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