The terms under which inspectors from the worldwide Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the global nuclear watchdog, may be able to access the site are contained in a secret document between the IAEA and Iran.
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The U.S. intelligence community has provided Congress with evidence that Iran, following the signing of the nuclear deal with world powers last month, has been sanitizing the suspected military nuclear site at Parchin, according to a BloombergView report published on Wednesday.
Satellite imagery of an Iranian site possibly used for work on a nuclear weapon shows crates, trucks and construction that may be linked to a renewed attempt to clean up before an inspection by the U.N.’s nuclear monitor, a nonproliferation institute said Thursday.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran. has never had any military nuclear activity and has never been engaged in any unconventional act that would need a hasty cover-up”, it added.
For senior lawmakers in both parties, the evidence calls into question Iran’s intention to fully account for the possible military dimensions of its current and past nuclear development. Lawmakers have aired concerns about Iran’s military capacity, and in particular what kind of access the IAEA would have to Parchin.
The director of the IAEA, Yukiya Amano, came to Congress on Wednesday to try to reassure senators but said his agency could not show them the details of the documents. Senate Republican David Perdue, a member of the committee, emerged frustrated at Amano’s lack of detail.
As a precondition to full sanctions relief, Tehran must provide sufficient information to the IAEA by October. 15 to allow it to prepare a final report on its past nuclear programme. Chris Murphy said he has confidence the inspections team will give us “our best chance of catching Iran at Parchin”. He told us there are two new large vehicles, alterations ongoing to roofs of two of the buildings, new structures near three of the buildings, and new objects casting long shadows near the building alleged to have contained the explosive chamber.
“You have to worry that this could be an attempt by Iran to defeat the sampling, that it’s Iran’s last-ditch effort to eradicate evidence there”.
A 2007 U.S. National Intelligence Assessment concluded that Iran halted this kind of work in 2003.
Bloomberg first reported the satellite imagery at Parchin.
“Iran is going to know that we know”, added Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Sen.
The IAEA has documented this as well.
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Also on Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry cast doubt on whether Iran truly wants to destroy Israel. “We have a confidential agreement with the United States, and I can not share it”.
