India confirms three nationals missing in Iran, seeks Tehran’s assistance
India announced on Friday that three of its nationals who traveled to Tehran for business have gone missing.
India announced on Friday that three of its nationals who traveled to Tehran for business have gone missing.
The Indian Ministry of External Affair said it has formally requested assistance from the Islamic Republic to locate the missing individuals.
"Three Indian nationals who had gone to Iran for business purposes, they are missing. We are in touch with their families. We have taken up the matter with the Iranian Embassy in Delhi and with the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tehran," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said during a weekly briefing.
Jaiswal said the Indian Embassy in Tehran is in touch with local officials to make sure about the missing people's safety.
According to Indian media, 33-year-old Yogesh Panchal arrived in Tehran on December 5 but lost contact with his family two days later. Mohammad Sadeeque also traveled to Iran in December, while Sumeet Sud entered the country in January.
Past cases have seen Indian nationals detained in Iran, often as crew members aboard foreign vessels held in Iranian waters. Over the years, Iranian intelligence arrested many foreigners and kept them as de facto hostages, according to Amnesty International and other human rights groups.
Iran’s foreign ministry has yet to comment on the situation.
The Islamic Republic is developing nuclear warheads for solid-fuel missiles with a range exceeding 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) at the Shahroud missile site in northeastern Iran, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) said in a press conference in Washington DC.
The group cited the source of the allegation as its network of members inside Iran, without elaborating.
"Additionally, a missile facility on the outskirts of Semnan, approximately 220 kilometers east of Tehran, is working to produce liquid-fuel missiles with nuclear warheads," the group announced on Friday. "This effort is being directed by the Organization for Advanced Defense Research (SPND), the entity established to consolidate Iran’s nuclear weapons activities."
Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says it is engaged in peaceful scientific research. The US Central Intelligence Agency assessed last year that Iran has not yet decided to pursue a bomb but Israel says it believes Tehran seeks nuclear arms.
On August 14, 2002, the NCRI drew worldwide attention when it publicly accused Iran of clandestinely developing nuclear weapons during a similar press conference in Washington DC.
At that time, the group's spokesman Alireza Jafarzadeh said two secret nuclear facilities were being constructed in Iran at Natanz and Arak under the guise of front companies involved in the procurement of nuclear material and equipment.
Now more than 22 years later, Jafarzadeh once again appeared before media representatives to share information on how the Islamic Republic is allegedly camouflaging its nuclear weaponization efforts in Shahroud and Semnan missile sites as a satellite launching initiative.
"SPND is particularly dedicated to creating nuclear warheads for the solid-fuel Ghaem-100 missiles, which are equipped with mobile launch platforms at the Shahroud site and building liquid fuel missile Simorgh to develop nuclear warheads in Semnan," the NCRI said in a statement shared with Iran International.
Last October, Israel launched airstrikes against multiple Iranian sites including Shahroud's Space Center. Satellite images reviewed by the AP showed a central, major building at the Shahroud Space Center had been destroyed.
Iran's defense minister, however, denied damage to the Shahroud facility that builds ballistic missiles and launches rockets as part of the IRGC's space program.
In September, a report by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) alleged that Iran has increased its activities at two nuclear sites, Sanjarian and Golab Dareh, that were key to its early nuclear weapons program two decades ago.
The report was based on satellite imagery given to the institute by Western intelligence officials, who say that in the past 18 months, Iranian experts who were involved in Iran’s alleged weapons-related projects in the early 2000s have been back at work at two secret sites.
The two sites mentioned by the ISIS were central to Iran’s alleged attempts to develop and test devices and systems that could be used to build a nuclear weapon, the report said.
Tehran has been brought before the Security Council repeatedly from 2007 to 2010 and faced several resolutions condemning the program and expanding international sanctions. However, military action against Iran's nuclear program may prevail over political and diplomatic pressure.
Over the past few weeks, Iran has been launching a series of military drills, including exercises focusing on protecting key nuclear sites such as Natanz and Fordow.
Israeli officials have reiterated the possibility of military action against Iran’s nuclear program. On Thursday, Omer Dostri, spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told The Jerusalem Post that while Israel prefers a diplomatic solution, it doubts Iran will comply.
“War is one way to achieve our objectives. If Iran halts its nuclear ambitions without an Israeli strike, fantastic,” he said. “But we do not expect that to happen.”
Dostri also said Israel hopes to work with Trump to restore his maximum pressure policy, which had imposed severe sanctions on Iran.
While Trump has suggested he may seek a diplomatic solution, Dostri made it clear that Israel is ready to act alone if needed. “We’ll give it a chance, but the clock is ticking. If necessary, we will act – with or without American approval.”
