|
 The experts, with long experience in international weapons
inspections, said the failure to disclose the details was damaging
the credibility of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a
view that is rejected by the agency itself, the United States
government and another prominent non-proliferation expert.
The confidential plan for the Parchin site has led to differing
reports on how it will be carried out, with some critics of the U.S.
administration saying Iran had been given too much leeway to conduct
its own inspections, including taking samples.
The inspections are needed to resolve questions about whether Iran
did research in the past at Parchin related to building a nuclear
weapon.
David Albright, head of the Institute for Science and International
Security in Washington, expressed unease about the lack of public
details on the arrangement.
"(Details) should be released because it's undermining the IAEA's
credibility," Albright said. "Whatever the outcome of the sampling,
the secrecy makes it harder to determine whether it's a credible
sampling approach."
 Former IAEA deputy director-general Olli Heinonen, now at Harvard
University, said the secrecy could not be justified.
"This is a very unusual IAEA verification approach, which has no
reason to be confidential unless a very special reason -
proprietary, economic or security - calls for it," he said.
The IAEA has said it has a legal obligation to keep details of the
arrangement confidential, but insists it is technically sound and
will ensure the samples are not compromised.
One prominent non-proliferation expert, Jeffrey Lewis of the
Monterey Institute of International Studies and founder of the
ArmsControlWonk.com blog, agreed. Releasing the details under
pressure would undermine countries' trust in the agency, he said.
"This would severely compromise the ability of the IAEA to carry out
its mission around the world," he said.
U.S. Republicans, who tried to sink the July 14 Iran nuclear
agreement in Congress, seized on a media report last month that Iran
would be able to use its own inspectors to collect samples at
Parchin without the IAEA present. The Associated Press report said
the arrangement suggested the IAEA would be not be present at the
site during the inspections.
Iranian officials have also said that international experts would
not be allowed in.
[to top of second column] |
Four diplomats familiar with the deal told Reuters that U.N.
inspectors would be present at Parchin to oversee the inspections.
In the unusual arrangement struck in July, the samples would be
taken by Iranian technicians while IAEA experts present at Parchin
observe and oversee the process, Western diplomats told Reuters.
The diplomats, who have knowledge of the deal, said that while the
IAEA inspectors will not be next to the Iranian technicians when
they take samples, they will be at Parchin overseeing the process.
Cameras will record the process.
Iran cannot receive sanctions relief promised under the nuclear deal
until the IAEA is satisfied it has answered outstanding questions
about the so-called "possible military dimensions" of past Iranian
nuclear research. Tehran says its nuclear program is peaceful and
that it did not conduct atomic weapons research.
After the AP report, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano rejected as a
"misrepresentation" suggestions that Iran would inspect Parchin on
the agency's behalf.
In response to Reuters' questions, the AP said its story had no
factual errors and that it stood by the article, which was based on
what it said was an authentic draft document and additional
reporting.
Reuters has not been able to verify the draft text.
IAEA access to Parchin, a facility the agency has not visited in a
decade, was one of the most sensitive issues during the negotiations
that led to the nuclear deal.
IAEA inspectors usually take samples themselves when searching for
trace nuclear particles that could be a sign of undeclared atomic
work. But as Parchin is a military site the agency had to negotiate
special arrangements to get in, diplomats said.
Iran is unlikely to agree to release the details, diplomats say,
because it would show it has opened up Parchin to foreign experts
despite public pronouncements to the contrary.
(Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla in Vienna; Parsia Hefezi in
Ankara; Lesley Wroughton and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by David
Storey and Stuart Grudgings)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
