Iran Nuclear Spill Cover-Up

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The Age reports that Iran covered up a dangerous spill of weapons grade uranium from North Korea at Tehran’s new international airport: Iran nuclear spill cover-up feared. (Hat tip: Geepers.)

Western intelligence officials believe Iran’s Revolutionary Guards tried to cover up a nuclear accident triggered when weapons-grade uranium was being shipped from North Korea. The accident allegedly caused Tehran’s new international airport to be sealed off by Revolutionary Guard commanders within hours of its official opening on May 9.

The first scheduled commercial landing at the airport - an Iran Air civilian flight from Dubai - was intercepted by two Iranian air force jets and diverted to Isfahan, about 300 kilometres away, even though it was low on fuel. At the same time, trucks blocked the runway to prevent other landings.

Seven weeks later, the showpiece airport, named after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the 1979 Iranian revolution, is still closed. All commercial flights have to use the capital’s ageing Mehrabad complex.

At the time of the incident, Revolutionary Guard commanders claimed that Khomeini airport had been closed because of “security problems”. But Iranian aviation officials believe that Tehran wanted to cover up evidence of the previously unreported nuclear accident in 2002, linked to Iran’s secret program to build an atom bomb. …

In December 2002, according to officials with access to the airport, a North Korean cargo jet delivering nuclear technology, including some weapons-grade uranium, was being unloaded at night under military supervision. A container slipped and cracked on the tarmac, and everyone in the area was taken away for thorough medical examinations.

Crews from the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, wearing protective suits, were brought in to clean up the spillage. The scientists worked there for several days, staying indoors during daylight and working only in darkness. The airport will remain closed until Russian nuclear experts can examine the site of the incident.

Once the area was decontaminated, Revolutionary Guards allowed airport construction to resume, confident that they had concealed the incident from the outside world.

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Last updated: 2023-04-04 11:11 am PDT
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