Iran will allow UN inspectors into complex
IRAN will grant UN
inspectors access to a military complex where the UN nuclear agency suspects
secret atomic work has been carried out, the semi-official ISNA news agency
reports. Tehran had previously banned UN
inspectors from visiting the Parchin installation, southeast of Tehran, but a
statement by Iran's permanent envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency today said
the visit would now be allowed in a gesture of goodwill. However, it would
require an agreement between the two sides on guidelines for the inspection,
ISNA reported. Inspecting Parchin was a key request made by senior IAEA teams
that visited Tehran in January and February. Iran rebuffed those demands at the time, as
well as attempts by the nuclear agency's team to question Iranian officials and
secure other information linked to the allegations of secret weapons work. The
latest development comes a day after IAEA chief, Yukiya Amano, expressed
growing concern that there was new activity at Parchin. Amano did not specify
whether he believed the activity was linked to suspected new weapons
experiments or attempts to clean up previous alleged work. The Parchin complex
has been often mentioned in the West as a suspected base for secret nuclear
experiments - a claim Iran consistently denies. IAEA
inspectors visited the site in 2005, but only one of four areas on the grounds
and reported no unusual activities. Last year, IAEA's report said there were
indications Tehran has conducted high-explosives testing to set off a nuclear charge at
Parchin. Iran denied the atomic activity and insisted that any decision to open
the site rests with the armed forces since it was a military, not nuclear,
facility.Speaking yesterday in Vienna, Austria, Amano said the suspicions of
"activities ... ongoing at the Parchin site" in Iran means
"going there sooner is better than later" for IAEA inspectors seeking
to probe suspicions that Iran has been - or is - working secretly to develop
nuclear arms."We have our credible information that indicates that Iran engaged in activities
relevant to the development of nuclear explosive devices," Amano said
outside of a 35-nation IAEA board meeting in Vienna, describing his
sources as "old information and new information”. Iran denies any intention
of possessing nuclear weapons and says all of its atomic activities are
peaceful, but the IAEA says it has intelligence-based suspicions that may not
be the case based on thousands of pages of documentation.” Given that Parchin
is a military site, access to this facility is a time-consuming process and it
can't be visited repeatedly," ISNA quoted the Iranian statement as saying.
It added that following repeated IAEA demands, "permission will be granted
for access once more”. The statement added that Tehran and IAEA need to
agree on "modalities" before the visit can take place. There was no
immediate comment at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna on Tehran's decision. It comes
as fears are growing that Israel's air force may soon
strike Iran in an attempt to destroy its nuclear facilities. President Barack Obama
met with Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington yesterday and told
the Israeli prime minister that the United States "will always have Israel's back," but
that diplomacy is the best way to resolve the crisis over potential Iranian
nuclear weapons.
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