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IAEA to press Iran on military site access
An image said to have come from inside the Parchin military base shows an explosives containment chamber of the type needed for nuclear arms-related tests that UN inspectors suspect Tehran has conducted at the site. Iran denies such testing and has neither confirmed nor denied the existence of such a chamber.
The image was provided to The Associated Press from an official of a country tracking Iran’s nuclear programme, who said the drawing proves the structure exists — despite Tehran’s refusal to acknowledge it. The official added he could not discuss the drawing’s origins beyond that it was based on information from a person who had seen the chamber at the Parchin military site.
Iran is set to meet UN nuclear agency officials today for the first time in three months. The last time Iran’s envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Ali Asghar Soltanieh, and chief inspector Hermann Nackaerts met officially was in early February during the second of two fruitless IAEA trips to Tehran.
The IAEA had said after those trips – branded a ‘failure’ by Washington – that ‘major differences’ existed with Tehran on how to ease suspicions that Iran’s nuclear programme is not, as it claims, purely peaceful.
The IAEA said Iran ignored extensive claims made in a November IAEA report that at least until 2003, and possibly since, activities took place which the agency said could only conceivably be aimed at developing nuclear weapons.
Iran also denied Nackaerts access to the Parchin military site near Tehran where the November report alleged Iran had conducted suspicious explosives tests in a large metal container, the IAEA said.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said recently that access to Parchin was a ‘priority’, and Western diplomats said the site would be at the heart of this week’s two-day meeting at Iran’s Vienna embassy.
Since the IAEA last visit, hopes have emerged that with new US and EU sanctions due to start from mid-2012, Iran’s approach has changed. Iran and the P5+1 – the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany – held their first talks in 15 months in Istanbul in April, and agreed to more in-depth discussions in Baghdad, that will begin on 23 May. They will be monitoring closely talks this week between the IAEA and Iran to discern if Tehran will stonewall or become more co-operative.