New secret nuclear site in Iran revealed
The major Iranian opposition group known as the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran, or PMOI/MEK, on May 8 exposed a secret nuclear facility in Semnan Province. Known as “Ranginkaman” (Rainbow), the site operates under the guise of Diba Energy Sina, a company claiming to produce chemicals for the oil and petrochemical industries. In truth, however, it is part of the SPND – an Iranian organization tasked with building nuclear weapons.
The facility’s primary objective is to design warheads for missiles with a range exceeding 3,000 kilometers. Its use of tritium, a radioactive isotope, raises serious concerns for global security.
Rumors of a deal
Recent reports in regime-aligned media suggest Iran and the U.S. may be exploring nuclear cooperation, including joint uranium enrichment in a third-party country. Some sources even speculate about a potential meeting between Iran’s president and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Regardless of their accuracy, these rumors must be approached with skepticism. The Islamic Republic has repeatedly violated its nuclear commitments – such as breaching the 3.67% enrichment cap set by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA (the “Iran nuclear deal”) and enriching uranium to 60%.
The revelation of yet another hidden nuclear site serves as a clear warning: Complacency in confronting Tehran’s nuclear ambitions could once again plunge the region into crisis, as history has already shown.
With so much therefore at stake for Iran, the Mideast and indeed the entire world, it may be ironic that the youth of Iran are serving as a primary force for exposing the ruling regime and protesting its tyrannical rule.
Looking to the recent past, the fearless and determined presence of Generation Z, those born between approximately 1995 and 2008, in Iran’s 2021 street protests was nothing short of extraordinary. Their influence is being similarly felt today.
Raised in a digital world, this generation is deeply influenced by the internet. With over 70% internet access, they are exposed to global cultures, which has significantly weakened the impact of the regime’s outdated, theocratic ideology – propagated through textbooks, state television, cinema and more. These youths are bold, resistant to control and uninterested in self-censorship. They speak their minds freely and refuse to let their dreams be buried by repression.
Technologically savvy and independent, they seek solutions not from traditional institutions but through the online world. As one social researcher noted, a growing number within this generation not only reject the status quo but are actively shaping a vision to replace it.
90,000 protest-related cases
Iran’s judiciary chief, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, recently admitted that in 2021, over 90,000 protest-related criminal cases were opened – many involving students, university youth and teachers. According to the Iranian Resistance, more than 20,000 people were arrested in just the first two weeks of the uprising.
This surge in youth-led unrest deeply alarmed the regime, prompting it to escalate repression, particularly within schools. A striking example is a new agreement between the Ministry of Education and the national police, allowing law enforcement officers to be deployed to schools – an unprecedented move that reveals the regime’s deep fear of Generation Z.
The same generation the regime once tried to keep in ignorance has now risen to openly challenge its very legitimacy.
The ‘poisoned chalice’ of nuclear talks
The term “poisoned chalice” was first used by Ayatollah Khomeini when he was forced to accept a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq war. Khomeini, who vowed to fight “until the last house in Tehran,” had linked the war to the regime’s very survival – making the ceasefire a bitter, humiliating retreat.
Today, for his current successor, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, nuclear negotiations with the West likewise represent a similar “poisoned chalice.” Having built the regime’s defiance and survival around its nuclear ambitions, he is now cornered by internal resistance and external pressure.
Courage has surpassed fear
Despite the regime’s rising use of executions since 2021, it has failed to intimidate the population into silence. The courage of Iran’s youth now outweighs their fear, pushing Khamenei to the negotiating table.
Thousands of resistance units – young activists operating in small mobile teams conducting anti-repression operations – have become a nightmare for the regime. Khamenei knows that heightened foreign pressure or a military clash could trigger a national uprising, this time with the coordination and resolve to bring about regime change.