Netanyahu hires MKO terrorists to sabotage Iran-US talks: FM Araghchi

The Iranian foreign minister has rejected reports about an alleged secret nuclear site, saying they are supplied by the terrorist cult Mujahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s order in a bid to sabotage Tehran-Washington indirect talks.

Abbas Araghchi made the remarks in an X post on Friday after Fox News released what it claimed to be satellite imagery of a previously undisclosed nuclear facility in Iran’s Semnan Province.

The top diplomat said that Netanyahu is using “Saddam’s Iranian henchmen” under his policy of dictating Trump’s approach towards the Islamic Republic in a desperate attempt to sabotage Iran-US indirect negotiations.

“Like clockwork, more Very Scary Satellite Images are being circulated as Iran-US indirect nuclear talks are set to resume,” he said.

“With his credibility in tatters and exposed as a saboteur, Netanyahu—under his ‘Determining What @realdonaldtrump Can & Cannot Do’ policy—is turning to both old and new sock puppets. This time, he is using Saddam’s Iranian henchmen. They may come cheap, but hiring a literal cult only conveys utter desperation.”

Iran and the US have already held three rounds of indirect talks, mediated by Oman, on Tehran’s nuclear program and the removal of US sanctions.

The two sides are also expected to hold a fourth meeting this weekend.

Earlier on Friday, the Iranian Mission to the United Nations said the absurd report had been churned out by the notorious MKO group, which has a dismal history of perpetrating terrorist attacks against Iranian civilians and officials and killing around 12,000 people since the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution. 

“The modus operandi of the terrorist cult known as the MKO demonstrates that it—in a desperate pursuit of recognition—furnishes fabricated reports, disguised as so-called intelligence findings, to Western intelligence services, including those of the United States,” it said in a statement published on X.

“However, once such agencies come to discern the utter unreliability of the absurd reports churned out by the MKO terrorist cult, it then seeks out its next clientele among Western media outlets, aiming to exploit those platforms in order to ride the tide of media momentum.”

Back on April 23, Araghchi had warned against “clear” attempts by the Israeli regime and certain groups to spoil diplomacy amid indirect negotiations with the US over Tehran’s civilian nuclear program.

“Those seeking to manipulate public opinion can also be expected to come up with fantastical claims and props like scary-looking satellite images,” he noted, adding, “Reality check: Every single milligram of enriched uranium in Iran is under full and constant IAEA supervision and monitoring.”