UN nuclear watchdog chief to visit Iran in coming days
Iranian atomic chief says 12-member team of IAEA inspectors also expected
The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog agency will visit Iran in the coming days for further talks on the inspection of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities, Iranian state TV said Tuesday, quoting Iran’s nuclear chief.
In comments broadcast Tuesday morning, Ali Akbar Salehi told state TV in Vienna that Yukiya Amano will travel to Iran “within the next 3-4 days.”
Salehi also said a 12-member team of inspectors from the international atomic energy agency, or IAEA, are scheduled to arrive in Tehran on Tuesday.
Iran and world powers reached a historic nuclear deal in July that curbs Tehran’s disputed nuclear program in return for the lifting of international sanctions.
Diplomats said Friday that IAEA inspectors would also be present at Iran’s controversial Parchin military installation when samples are taken from the site.
The officials spoke based on familiarity with a confidential agreement between Iran and the IAEA concerning inspections at Parchin, which is suspected of having been used to test nuclear weapons-related technologies. The agreement accompanies the internationally brokered agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, reached on July 14.
Last month, Amano attempted to assuage concerns about the nuclear agreement’s enforcement by the atomic watchdog. “The arrangements made with Iran are technically sound and consistent with IAEA safeguards,” he said. “They do not compromise our standards in any way.”
The IAEA wants to probe allegations that Iran’s nuclear program had, at least until 2003, “possible military dimensions” — in other words that it conducted research into making a nuclear weapon.
To this end, Iran and the agency agreed a “road map” — also on July 14 — with the aim of the IAEA being to complete all meetings and visits in its investigation by October 15 and to issue a final report by December 15.
Iran has said that the allegations that it sought to build a bomb — including that it conducted relevant explosives tests at Parchin — are groundless and based on faulty intelligence provided by its enemies to a gullible and partial IAEA.
Neither the IAEA nor Iran have disclosed the details of the inspection procedures concerning Parchin. According to a leaked draft of the agreement published last month by The Associated Press, Iran will provide the agency with photos, videos and environmental samples, but it suggested that IAEA inspectors wouldn’t be allowed into the military facility.
Earlier this month, the former number two official at the IAEA told The Times of Israel that the nuclear deal’s mechanism for inspecting Iran’s Parchin military complex appears to be unreasonably lax and called on the agency to release details concerning the side-deals with Iran governing inspection.