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Exploring Iran's Secret Nuclear Plant

U.N. team visits mountainside facility for the first time.

U.N. inspectors reportedly got their first look Sunday at the nuclear facility in Iran that was kept secret until last month. Inspectors are spending the week at the enrichment facility, known as Fordo, which is carved into the side of a Tehran mountain and protected by various means—including missile silos and anti-aircraft batteries. Iran disclosed the existence of Fordo in order to “pre-empt” a U.S. conspiracy to use the facility—Iran’s second nuclear-enrichment center—as evidence of hostile activity. The inspection coincides with a pending decision on whether or not Iran will accept a deal put forth by the International Atomic Energy Agency proposing outsourcing of Iran’s uranium enrichment to Russia and France, a move that Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani called an attempt by the West to “cheat” Iran out of buying its own uranium. In spite of the tensions, Iranian officials maintain that the nation’s nuclear ambitions are for peaceful purposes only: “Inspectors’ visit to Fordo shows that Iran’s nuclear activities are transparent and peaceful,” one lawmaker told a local news station.