Completing a deal related to a recent IAEA chief visit to Tehran, inspectors were able to visit the second disputed nuclear site. The IAEA visited the first of the two sites in early September.
The two sites originated with Israeli allegations, and while Iran denied that either was ever related to the civilian nuclear program, the US endorsed the allegations and demanded the IAEA visit the sites. the IAEA did visit once, but reached no conclusion.
The lack of conclusions led the US to push for more visits, but the Iranians were concerned that the IAEA would just keep asking to visit the same two laundry facilities over and over again. Refusing would lead the US to claim they’re hiding something.
The IAEA made some assurances before these visits, so Iran has at least some hope of resolving these questions. The US tried to get out in front of not finding anything by claiming Iran has covered it up, but neither evidence of a cover-up nor evidence of the sites ever being anything are very strong.
Though terms of the IAEA deal were never made public, Iran’s endorsement of it suggests that this is an opportunity to eliminate some of the confusion about the program’s past.
IAEA Inspectors Visit Second Disputed Iranian Site
Iran denies site had anything to do with nuclear program
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.
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