Iran has strongly rejected a recent Fox News report alleging the existence of a covert Iranian nuclear weapons facility, dismissing the claims as part of a disinformation campaign aimed at sabotaging ongoing nuclear talks with the United States.

The allegations, published by Fox News on Thursday, included satellite images purportedly showing a secret Iranian nuclear site. The report, citing the exiled anti-Iran group Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) as its source, claimed that the facility was evidence of Iran’s alleged efforts to develop nuclear weapons.

However, in a vehement response posted on X (formerly Twitter) early Friday morning, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi rejected the accusations, framing them as a deliberate attempt to derail the indirect nuclear negotiations between Iran and the U.S., which have been ongoing for months.

“Like clockwork, more Very Scary Satellite Images are being circulated as Iran-U.S. indirect nuclear talks are set to resume,” Araqchi wrote. He added that the timing of the report, released as diplomatic discussions were poised to continue, was highly suspect.

Araqchi went on to accuse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of orchestrating the report to manipulate U.S. President Donald Trump. He claimed that Netanyahu’s strategy was focused on controlling what Trump could or could not do regarding U.S. policy on Iran.

“This time, he is using Saddam’s Iranian henchmen,” Araqchi wrote, referring to the MKO, a controversial and long-demonized group opposed to the Iranian government. He added, “They may come cheap, but hiring a literal cult only conveys utter desperation.”

Iran’s mission to the United Nations also weighed in, dismissing the MKO as an unreliable source. The Iranian mission stated that the MKO, in its pursuit of legitimacy and influence, has a long history of fabricating intelligence reports designed to influence Western policy against Iran.

“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,” the statement said. “Once these agencies realize the utter unreliability of such reports, the MKO turns to Western media outlets to exploit media momentum.”

The MKO has long been discredited by both Western and Iranian authorities as a terrorist group responsible for numerous acts of violence, and it has consistently been linked to attempts to manipulate foreign policy in favor of its anti-Iran agenda.

The Fox News report comes amid ongoing indirect talks between the United States and Iran over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. While Iran has consistently maintained that its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes, the international community, particularly the U.S. and Israel, have voiced concerns over the potential for nuclear weapons development.

Iran has repeatedly called out disinformation campaigns aimed at undermining the diplomatic process and sabotaging efforts to secure a nuclear agreement. Tehran's government has insisted that the reports are meant to create unnecessary tensions and distractions as the negotiations approach crucial junctures.

Iran’s top officials remain steadfast in their call for dialogue and cooperation, hoping to avoid further escalation and seek a diplomatic resolution to the long-standing nuclear dispute. (ILKHA)