TEHRAN, IRAN (BNO NEWS) – An Iranian official on Friday denied that the Islamic country is building a new nuclear facility in contrast to the evidence claims of a dissident group, local media reported.

According to Mehr News Agency, the director of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran dismissed the claim made by the Mojahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) regarding the construction of a new nuclear enrichment facility near the city of Qazvin.

“In Iran there is no nuclear facility with its own specific definition which has not been declared to the agency (the International Atomic energy Agency),” Ali Akbar Salehi, the agency’s director, said.

On Thursday, MKO said that they had evidence of the new secret underground facility. The information was acquired through the exiled opposition group National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI), a guerrilla movement opposed to the Iranian government.

MKO claimed that the new facility is currently 85 percent complete. The newly discovered site is allegedly intended to enrich uranium and is located beneath a mountain near Qazvin, about 120 kilometers from Tehran.

The United States responded by saying they have known the existence of the facility for years but their intelligence reports indicate that it is not a nuclear. The U.S. also added that the NCRI has made similar claims in the past which were proved to be false.

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