Official: Iran targeted Seabrook for attack

News - December 17, 2004
Official: Iran targeted Seabrook for attackBy BENJAMIN KEPPLE Union Leader Staff

State and federal officials yesterday downplayed a Pennsylvania congressman's contention that Iran is plotting a terror attack against the Seabrook nuclear power plant.
Republican U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon went public with the charge earlier this week. In an interview with the New York Sun, Weldon, the vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said a source with high-level Iranian government contacts had told him of the scheme, in which a Tehran-backed terror cell would hijack Canadian airliners and crash them into Seabrook. Weldon said he went public after the CIA and others ignored him.
Attempts to reach Weldon for comment weren't successful yesterday. But state and federal-level officials from the Granite State expressed their full faith in America's intelligence personnel.
A Pennsylvania congressman said he has been told of an Iranian plan to hijack Canadian airliners and crash them into the nuclear-fueled Seabrook Station. (DAVID LANE/UNION LEADER FILE PHOTO)"I know Curt Weldon. He's probably the congressman who has the best understanding of the defense budget," said U.S. Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H, who in the past served on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. But, Bass added, "I never considered Curt Weldon to be all that well-versed in intelligence issues."
Bass went on to say Weldon was an aggressive and hard-working member of Congress, and he was sure Weldon held strong feelings on the issue. Bass further stressed he was not making light of Weldon's efforts.
But Bass did say he would be very surprised if the intelligence community had outright ignored a congressman's suggestions on these matters.
"I'm confident the national security apparatus is well aware of the fact Seabrook represents a hard target," Bass said, saying later, "I have faith in Porter Goss, the new Director of Central Intelligence."
Seabrook, the last atomic power plant to be built in the United States, went online in 1990. State safety officials have said security there has been stepped up ever since the Sept. 11 terror attacks in 2001.
A spokesman for U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, R-N.H., said his office would pass Weldon's information on to the Central Intelligence Agency, but had no further comment. A spokesman for U.S. Rep. Jeb Bradley, R-N.H., said they had made inquiries to the CIA and other agencies, as did the office of U.S. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.
"We've made inquiries to the federal agencies that have jurisdiction, including the NRC, and are awaiting responses," said Joel Maiola, Gregg's chief of staff.
As a result of inquiries by Sen. Gregg's office, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission called The Union Leader to give its view on the matter. NRC officials said no particular sites have been threatened.
"As we have said before — and it continues to be the case — there has been no credible threat against a specific nuclear power plant," NRC spokesman Sue Gagner said. "We are in regular contact with intelligence and other federal officials on such matters."
According to the New York Sun, Weldon based his warnings on conversations he had with a former high-ranking Iranian official in the government of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, which was overthrown in 1979.
Weldon told the newspaper he held a series of secret meetings with the official in Paris, and according to Weldon, the official has correctly predicted several internal developments in Iran.
Weldon said the official, who had informants close to Iran's theocratic government, identified the target as "SEA," which led Weldon to conclude the official meant the Seabrook facility. And this August and September, Weldon has referred to the alleged Iranian scheme against Seabrook in public hearings.
Weldon said the attack was first planned for between Nov. 23 and Dec. 3, 2003, but was postponed. It later was planned to take place after the Presidential election, according to the newspaper report.
Weldon is planning to publish a book early next year outlining the intelligence he has collected detailing an Iranian plot to conduct a lethal attack on America.
Alicia Preston, a spokesman for Gov. Craig Benson, said Benson and other New Hampshire officials were aware of the Sun's article. But emergency officials had no further information other than what was in the report, she said, and said they were not aware of any specific threats.
Preston added that Seabrook and other sensitive installations in New Hampshire were well-prepared against attack.
"The preparations have been in place for a long time now," Preston said.