During a closed-door meeting today, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) deputy director general Herman Nackaerts conceded that the long-sought search of Iran’s Parchin military base might not actually turn up anything, comments which diplomats spun as proof of an Iranian “clean-up” operation.
The IAEA has been seeking access to Parchin for years despite being unable to prove that anything related to the nation’s nuclear program is going on there. Iran is under no obligation to provide access to conventional military sites, and has expressed concern at the number of times IAEA visits have spawned leaks to Western nations or media outlets, saying the visits amounted to letting spies have full access to the important site.
Parchin’s role in Iran’s missile and explosives programs have sparked speculation that it might conceivably have been used in undeclared nuclear research. US officials have cited Iran’s refusal to open Parchin to inspectors, which again Iran is under no obligation to do, as proof they are “hiding something,” and satellite photos of construction at or near the base have been spun as meaning Iran is “covering it up.”
In the end, the reaction to Nackaert’s comments underscores why Iran is unlikely to bother opening Parchin up, as nothing is gained either way. Even if nothing is found there diplomats are just going to assume Iran somehow managed to pull the wool over the inspectors’ eyes, and cite that as justification for more sanctions and demands for more access at other random sites.
Again we have the US and others demanding the proof of a negative, that they cannot find anything, which would be an absolute fact if nothing was there in the first place, is turned into the idea that if nothing is found there MUST have been a thorough clean up!
Do we not remember the previous proof of a negative that Bush threw at Sadaam!
Could you imagine the rhetoric from many of these same US officials if the IAEA or in fact any body else if there was a demand to inspect US military sites for weapons of mass destruction that are banned by international treaties, or heaven forbid a demand that Israel open its nuclear facilities for inspection!
If we don't find anything it's because they cleaned it up – which makes them even worse than if we had found something. I can see where this is going.
Or maybe there is nothing to find!
"The IAEA has been seeking access to Parchin for years"
The IAEA were allowed to inspect Parchin twice in 2005
They reported they found nothing and that the situation on the ground was not as the interpretation of the satellite data suggested.
How quickly we forget the that this is the same "hype" that preceded the war in Iraq.
Stupid talk about them "cleaning it up" as espoused by Roger Lafontaine is just that – "stupid"
You cannot wipe over these sites with a detergent rag to clear away evidence of this nature.
Detergent that kills 99.9% of germs will not help.