Iran gets N-watchdog backing over inspection
IAEA will inspect military sites only if there is proof of banned nuclear activities there
Vienna, Aug. 31: The United States is pushing U.N. nuclear inspectors to check military sites in Iran to verify itis not breaching its nuclear deal with world powers. But for this to happen, inspectors must believe such checks are necessary and so far they do not, officials say.
Last week, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley visited the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is scrutinising compliance with the 2015 agreement, as part of areview of the pact by the administration of President DonaldTrump. He has called it “the worst deal ever negotiated”.
After her talks with officials of the U.N. Nuclear watchdog, Haley said, “There are ... Numerous undeclared sites that have not been inspected. That is a problem”. Iran dismissed her demands as “merely a dream”.
The IAEA has the authority to request access to facilities in Iran, including military ones, if there are new and credible indications of banned nuclear activities there, according to officials from the agency and signatories to the deal. But they said Washington has not provided such indications to back up its pressure on the IAEA to make
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano frequently describes his Vienna-based agency as a technical rather than a political one
IAEA has the authority to request
such a request.
“We’re not going to visit a military site like Parchin just to send a political signal,” an IAEA official said mentioning a military base often cited by opponents of the deal, including Iran’s arch-adversary Israel and Mr Trump’s Republican Party. Thedeal was hatched under his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama.
IAEA director-general Yukiya Amano frequently describes his Viennabased
access to facilities in Iran if there are new and credible indications of banned nuclear activities there
There must be credible info that arouses suspicion
agency as a technical rather than a political one underscoring the need for its work to be based on facts alone. The deal also allows the IAEA to request access to facilities other than the nuclear installations Iran has already declared if it has concerns about banned materials or activities there. But it must present a basis for those concerns.
Those terms are widely understood by officials from the IAEA and member states to mean there must be credible information that arouses suspicion, and IAEA officials have made clear theywill not take it at face value “We have to be able to vet this information,” a second IAEA official said asking not to be identified.
Despite Ms Haley’s public comments, she neither asked the IAEA to visit specific sites nor offered new intelligence on any site, officials who attended her meetings said.
A U.S. state department spokesman confirmed this. “She conveyed that the IAEA will need to continue to robustly exercise its authorities to verify Iran’s declaration and monitor the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” the spokesman added using the deal’s official name.