Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his address Thursday to the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly with the announcement that he would reveal information never before exposed to the public.
Somewhat skeptical, diplomats in the hall were silent.
“Iran has another secret atomic warehouse for storing nuclear material for its weapons program,” he announced.
If anything, the silence in the hall deepened and noticeably thickened. It grew even quieter as Netanyahu proceeded to provide — in the friendliest tone — the coordinates for the warehouse (35.5022 51.2997), and even showing photos of the building on beautifully labeled picture boards as he spoke.
The prime minister added that after Israel raided the first archive warehouse, Iranian officials scrambled to make sure some 15 kilograms of radioactive material at the second site would be safe. “So what did they do?” he asked. “They spread it out around Tehran like Nutella,” he said.
“The endangered residents of Tehran may want to know that they can get a Geiger Counter on Amazon for only $29.99,” he added.
The second Iranian facility, Netanyahu said, contains nuclear-related equipment and material for Iran’s nuclear program. — “15 ship containers — 300 tons” he said.
“So ask yourselves,” he said to the diplomats in the hall, “why did Iran keep a secret atomic archive and warehouse” if the country truly intended to dismantle its nuclear development program and abandon its drive towards nuclear weapons of mass destruction?
“The reason Iran didn’t destroy them is because it hasn’t abandoned its goal to develop nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu said.
The prime minister called on Yukio Amano, head of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to “go inspect this atomic warehouse immediately before the Iranians finish clearing it out, and while you’re at it, inspect the other sites we told you about… Tell the truth about Iran.”
Netanyahu also spoke about the guided precision missiles that Iran is providing to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the permanent military bases it is working on building in Syria, and its ongoing attempts to launch rocket, mortar and arson attacks from across Israel’s southern border in Gaza.
Iran’s proxy terrorist group in Lebanon, he said, is a particularly dangerous threat, beginning to produce precision guide missiles with an accuracy of 10 meters.
“Hezbollah is using the innocent people of Lebanon as human shields,” Netanyahu said.
“Here is a picture that’s worth a thousand missiles,” he added, holding up a new image. Site one, he pointed out, shows the first place where missile launchers are planted, about a block from the beach. Site two is “right under a soccer stadium,” where children play all the time. And the third site is “right near Beirut Airport.”
But he said, “I have a message for Hezbollah: Israel knows what you’re doing, where you’re doing it and Israel will not let you get away with it.”