US: Process Reached to Give UN Access to Iran Sites as Needed

Concedes Unlimited Access to Conventional Sites 'Not Appropriate'

US officials say a deal has been reached on establishing a process through which the IAEA will get selective access of Iranian conventional military sites when it is able to prove that it has a need for such access.

The deal could resolve one of the major disputes remaining before a final nuclear deal is reached, as France has been demanding unlimited access at all times to everyplace in Iran, while Iranian officials insisted access to sites unrelated to the nuclear program is unacceptable.

The US seemed willing to concede the French demands were unreasonable, noting the US wouldn’t allow unrestricted IAEA access to its conventional military sites and it was “not appropriate” to expect Iran to do so either.

There hasn’t been an official announcement on the deal, however, so it isn’t clear if this process has been finalized or is simply a work in progress that officials are still hammering out the details on.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.