Iran: UN Inspectors To Be Allowed Into Secret Parchin Complex

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran says it will allow U.N. inspectors access to a secret military complex where the U.N. nuclear agency suspects secret atomic work has been carried out.

A statement issued by the country's permanent envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran says it will allow U.N. officials to visit the Parchin complex, southeast of Tehran in a gesture of good will.

The statement says the visit requires an agreement on a guidelines for the inspection. It was carried by the official ISNA news agency Tuesday.

Comments

[Baghooli]

08:38 PM on 03/06/2012

"Iran says it will allow U.N. inspectors access to a secret military complex where the U.N. nuclear agency suspects secret atomic work has been carried out."
Lol, Ayatollah saying; you see, don't say it again that I don't give you anything!

[Tobias Lake]

06:56 PM on 03/06/2012

*Crosses fingers* no war no war no war no war no war.

[stpmdn]

05:05 PM on 03/06/2012

how do you prove something doesn't exist? Its impossible to do. If IAEA thinks Iran has a nuclear weapon then they need to prove it. Not the other way around.

[Marcin A Mazurek]

03:36 PM on 03/06/2012

I think the thing I like most is that because a UN Agency suspects that there is something going on - it, like any and all other agencies with jobs similar to theirs, will not admit that they were wrong if nothing is found.

Saving Face is more important than saving lives.

[Boduognat]

03:21 PM on 03/06/2012

"...UN Inspectors To Be Allowed Into Secret Parchin Complex ..."

Damn... now we'll have to come up with something else...

Maybe demanding that all Mendeleev Tables be removed from Iranian classrooms wasn't such a bad idea after all?

Remove them... or face the consequences...NOW

[ponderingtoo]

03:03 PM on 03/06/2012

One thing seems to have been overlooked by most in the media: under Article X of the NPT, Iran can just withdraw from it entirely with three months notice and then develop a nuclear weapon. North Korea formally withdrew in 2003.

That should be kept in mind when analyzing whether Iran is acting in good faith and whether to keep adding on to the Iranian sanctions. If Iran is going to be subjected to multi-lateral sanctions that are destroying its economy, what motivation does it have not to just withdraw?

If I agreed to play nice with others and the response I received for agreeing to play was an intentional attempt to destroy my economy, I might just say that I'm done playing this game and leave the table.

[Marcin A Mazurek]

03:38 PM on 03/06/2012

Sounds about right.
And we all know how sanctions build up when "hidden weapons" aren't found.

[usereasonalready]

03:45 PM on 03/06/2012

I think if Iran pulled out of the NPT, that might incur more sanctions, rather than alleviating pressure.

[ponderingtoo]

04:21 PM on 03/06/2012

It's hard to imagine more severe sanctions than the ones imposed by the US on 12/31/11 through section 1245 of the NDAA. That requires the US to sanction every country in the world that buys Iranian oil or deals with its central bank (unless a country obtains a pass from the President). Earlier this year, the EU imposed their own as well, banning purchases of oil or the sale into Iran of anything with intrinsic value like gold or precious metals.

In effect, the US and the EU have placed a global trade embargo on Iran. The only reason it's not complete is because China, India and others have told the US to stuff it.

[ponderingtoo]

02:36 PM on 03/06/2012

From the IAEA Director Amano's statement to the IAEA Board of Governor's yesterday:

"The Agency continues to verify the non-diversion of nuclear material declared by Iran under its Safeguards Agreement. But, as Iran is not providing the necessary cooperation, including by not implementing its Additional Protocol, the Agency is unable to provide credible assurance about the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran, and therefore to conclude that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities."

The Additional Protocol is a follow on treaty that Iran has not ratified.

Translation: we have verified no diversion of nuclear material under the treaty Iran signed. But, we [the IAEA as directed by the UN] are really upset that Iran won't agree to a new, more intrusive treaty that the UN demanded Iran sign.

[JoePenn]

02:02 PM on 03/06/2012

The IAEA's got several spooks and intel folks, so they'll be naming names (of any scientists who will then go onto israel's list in order to orphan their families). And MASINT (Measurement & Signature Intelligence) will come into play - like all clothing worn by inspectors will probably be checked out inch by inch to see if there were any trace elements floating around.
But mostly - they'll make crap up, they'll place remnants on the premises, and voila - WMD program right there.....and despite the facts that it's pure b/s, the "media" (nudge, wink) will eat it up, spread it out - and we'll be fighting the first country that actually has a military in decades.

[shewolf2002]

03:11 PM on 03/06/2012

Yup. Because Iran is so rudely sitting on our oil. And THIS war will be cheap, and short. Promise (wink, wink, nudge, nudge, d'you knowwhaimean?).

[ponderingtoo]

01:53 PM on 03/06/2012

Does anyone else think this whole UN situation has really gotten out of control with Iran now having to prove a negative when that's not the way things are set up with the treaties? Parchin is a top secret military base and the IAEA has been there before. I can understand Iran's hesitancy to allow in inspectors who will then report on everything they saw to the whole world.

I would think the US would be just as hesitant to allow in the UN to its top secret bases to snoop around and report on what they found. There's a reason for secret, top secret, and sci clearances. The US won't even release a memo written by the Justice Department which cited the legal justification for killing US citizens... and that's just a legal memo.

[BraveYusuf]

01:09 PM on 03/06/2012

Iran has always allowed UN inspectors. We can't say the same for Israel. Yet its Iran who is apparently a "existential" threat to Israel."

[Scent]

02:34 PM on 03/06/2012

Like any nation not making US corporations rich is our enemy.

[usereasonalready]

03:49 PM on 03/06/2012

What an awful and untruthful characterization of Real Politik!

Think of all the jobs the US is creating is Israel for spies! In order to sway public opinion, maintain US support for Israel, and stay ahead of any issues that could impede continued "closest ally" status, Israel conducts the largest and most expensive espionage operation of any nation AGAINST THE US. Verify this for yourself.

I mean, nothing says, "You are my closest ally" like a massive espionage operation against us, right? Thanks, Israel!

[kazio]

01:08 PM on 03/06/2012

After the dismal "show of support for regime" in elections last week which proved to the elites that people wouldn't rally around the flag should there be a war, it's a "good" step on the part of IRI to diffuse the situation. Regime's propaganda that "let's show the big Satan the Iranian nation is behind the regime" failed miserably. Let's hope that the few reasonable people in the IRI reach an agreement and get the sanctions lifted-that may buy them a few more years in power.

[ponderingtoo]

02:11 PM on 03/06/2012

The US sanctions will never be lifted while the Iranian govt. is set up as it is. Statements by the US suggesting that if Iran only does a,b,c it will be welcomed back into the international community and embraced for being a team player are intentionally misleading at best. Iran did a,b,c years ago. This was followed by d,e,f,g,h ....

[Lellie]

01:03 PM on 03/06/2012

Let's make sure that Joe Wilson... (Valerie Plame's husband) ...whose pre-Iraq-war adamant claims that "Iraq has no WMD's " were dismissed and disdained by Cheney, etc,... is part of the team, otherwise I won't believe a word the investigating team has to say.

[shewolf2002]

03:04 PM on 03/06/2012

Seriously. There are too many war profiteers posing as "advisors" to our government.

[ANuttyReader]

12:51 PM on 03/06/2012

Here we go again. Iraq allowed UN inspectors to check the existence of weapons of mass destruction. UN inspectors found nothing and the US called them incompetent...

LEAVE IRAN ALONE

[evangelicalchimp]

12:33 PM on 03/06/2012

"You can look everywhere you want to"......."except under this carpet over here"

[muck-raker]

12:33 PM on 03/06/2012

Here is the agreement for IAEA to inspect plus a ton of new info no one has come out with...breaking news:
Iran Releases Statement to Remind IAEA of Cooperation Agreements

TEHRAN - Iran's permanent mission at the IAEA in a statement released at a Board of Governors meeting in Vienna on Tuesday reminded International Atomic Energy Agency that the two sides had endorsed an agreement to deal with issues of difference, including UN nuclear agency's access to Iran's Parchin military site, in an orderly manner and based on work plan.

A look at the statement, which contains all items of the agreement signed by Iran and the IAEA, discloses that UN agency had accepted to raise the issue of access to Parchin military site after several steps are taken by two sides, meaning that IAEA's sudden demand from Iran to allow its team of negotiators - and not inspectors - who were in Tehran last month, to visit Parchin was in complete violation of above agreement and only meant to serve as an excuse for negative media propaganda against Iran.

Yet, the Iranian mission adds in statement that it allows IAEA to visit Parchin to show its good faith, but of course this permission would be issued once and for all and under the terms stated in the two sides' agreement, reminding that site has already been visited by IAEA inspectors twice.

much more plus timeline of all the times these areas WERE inspected
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9012151341

[stpmdn]

05:06 PM on 03/06/2012

well said