'Iranian nuke test' debunked as blogger's hoax

Frustrated journalist behind post which resonated globally. 'I wrote that blog out of anger that Iran doesn't have nuclear weapon,' he says

Dudi Cohen|Published: 06.22.11 , 13:10

An Iranian blogger revealed on Tuesday that the controversial article published on a Revolutionary Guard website in April, describing a hypothetical nuclear experiment by the Islamic Republic, was nothing but a figment of his imagination.

The essay caused an international stir as it was not inline with the official Iranian claim that its nuclear program is being developed for civilian purposes only.

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Seyed Ali Pourtabatbaiee, a 30-year-old journalist from the central Iranian city of Qom, first published his essay on his blog, Kheyzaranonline, which is dedicated to Shiite messianism.

"I wrote that blog out of anger that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon," Pourtabatbaiee said in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian. "I think sanctions will just continue until the end of days, and they make us so angry.

"We don't need nuclear weapons otherwise, but if we are going to have these sanctions, we should do a nuclear test to bring them to an end," he added.

'Bomb to counterbalance Israel's weapons'

According to Pourtabatbaiee, a nuclear bomb would earn Iran respect, and provide a counterbalance to Israel's nuclear capabilities. He noted that his opinions are shared by citizens from across the political spectrum.

Pourtabatbaiee said that his article was arbitrarily linked to Gerdab, a site run by the Revolutionary Guard's cyber security wing and often features links "to what it thinks is good content."

"There was a university student I know working for Gerdab and he read my blog and liked it and put in a link to it," he explained. "He has to put up five links a day to get paid in his job. I don't think Gerdab management knew anything about it."

The blogger noted that while there are rules forbidding the media from making the statements he made - "in our blogs, we speak about them freely."

"Many people in Iran think we already have a nuclear weapon, because of what they hear at Friday prayers," he said. "It is a wish: We would be stronger in our region - strong like Israel or like India and Pakistan. If we had a nuclear weapon there would be a balance."