Iranian officials are trying to clarify what’s going to happen with IAEA inspectors in February. An Iranian MP said all inspectors would be expelled, while the foreign ministry reported yesterday that there would be no expulsions.
Government spokesmen now say that Iran’s real intention is to curb short-notice inspection requests by the IAEA, but that the inspectors themselves can remain. This dials back the instant access they have been given to all sites since the P5+1 deal started.
This is a reasonable compromise, as it keeps inspectors assuring the world that Iran is not transferring its nuclear materiel to non-approved purposes, while at the same time allowing parliament to pull the reins a bit after the assassination of a top nuclear scientist.
With some hope in the Rouhani government that Biden might return the US to the P5+1 deal, they did not want to go overboard and imperil the process. It remains to be seen if this will keep the hardliners in parliament at ease, but with a mid-February deadline set, it’s possible that a deal might start coming together before anyone needs to worry about it.
The instant access idea was misused as targeting information for the US attack on Iraq. The US bragged about that. Iran would be nuts to allow that amid talk of planning an attack on them.
IAEA inspectors include US spies, who report on Iranians such as
Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the nuclear scientist recently assassinated.
Partial expulsion may still happen…!