The new round of nuclear talks got underway yesterday in Vienna, and as expected are centering heavily on the question of IAEA access to Iranian military sites with no known connection to their existing nuclear program.
For a change, the US is looking for a compromise, and trying to sell the more reluctant partners, in particular France, on a plan of “managed” access to such sites, while French officials insist no deal is possible without unfettered access.
Iranian officials are treating the whole situation with care, reluctant to take any specific sides until they see a proposal in writing for fear that the proposal they eventually see will be wildly different from what is being talked about now.
The IAEA has received myriad allegations of nuclear-related projects at Iranian military sites, though those investigated so far have not panned out. Iran has complained that every time they give the UN agency access to their conventional military sites details of their defensive military assets get leaked to Western countries, and are reluctant to allow them the run of important bases.