Iran Nuclear Program at Natanz Revealed by Exiled Opposition Group

On August 14, 2002, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an exiled opposition group, held a press conference in Washington revealing that Iran had secretly constructed a uranium enrichment facility at Natanz and a heavy water production plant at Arak. The disclosure prompted the IAEA to demand inspections and triggered two decades of international diplomacy, sanctions, and negotiations over Iran's nuclear program. Iran initially denied the facilities but acknowledged them after international pressure.