Teh One Who Knocks
08-20-2015, 11:13 AM
By Charles Hoskinson - Washington Examiner
A Wednesday press report that Iran will be allowed to use its own experts to inspect a site believed to be the center of its nuclear weapons program is raising new concerns about whether Tehran can be trusted to keep its word.
The Associated Press said a document seen by its reporters would allow Iranian experts, rather than the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, to verify concerns about the Parchin military facility, believed to have been the center of Iran's past nuclear weapons research.
The process for dealing with Parchin is laid out in a side agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is separate from the broader nuclear deal reached in Vienna on July 14.
This side deal has become an object of controversy because Congress has not been allowed to review it, and reports that it allows Iran to do its own verification on Parchin have roiled lawmakers.
"We can't even take samples there. IAEA can't take samples there. They're going to be able to test by themselves," Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said at a July 23 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. "Even the NFL wouldn't go along with this."
Secretary of State John Kerry would not address the issue when confronted, saying it was a classified matter, though Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, sitting beside Kerry, shook his head silently when the issue was raised.
But State Department spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday in the wake of the AP report that the Obama administration was fine with the IAEA's arrangements with Iran.
"We're confident in the agency's technical plans for investigating the possible military dimensions of Iran's former program, issues that in some cases date back more than a decade," he said.
"Just as importantly, IAEA is comfortable with arrangements which are unique to the agency's investigation of Iran's historical activities."
He also indicated the U.S. and other countries in the P5+1 are apparently powerless to renegotiate the IAEA's arrangement, and said it's "not for the P5+1 to endorse or negate."
The issue is likely to reinforce opponents' belief that the nuclear deal is not a good one for the United States, though it remains to be seen whether it will sway any lawmakers on the fence.
House Speaker John Boehner released a statement late Wednesday saying the "Obama administration has a lot of explaining to do."
"President Obama boasts his deal includes 'unprecedented verification.' He claims it's not built on trust. But the administration's briefings on these side deals have been totally insufficient – and it still isn't clear whether anyone at the White House has seen the final documents," he said. "The American people and their representatives in Congress have serious questions about whether this nuclear agreement will keep our country safe, and it's time for this administration to provide honest answers."
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., cited Parchin in a speech Tuesday announcing his opposition to the nuclear deal, saying it "would be the equivalent of having an athlete accused of using performance enhancing drugs submit an unsupervised urine sample to the appropriate authority."
But Menendez has been a persistent critic of the negotiating process all along, and was widely expected to oppose the deal.
A Wednesday press report that Iran will be allowed to use its own experts to inspect a site believed to be the center of its nuclear weapons program is raising new concerns about whether Tehran can be trusted to keep its word.
The Associated Press said a document seen by its reporters would allow Iranian experts, rather than the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, to verify concerns about the Parchin military facility, believed to have been the center of Iran's past nuclear weapons research.
The process for dealing with Parchin is laid out in a side agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is separate from the broader nuclear deal reached in Vienna on July 14.
This side deal has become an object of controversy because Congress has not been allowed to review it, and reports that it allows Iran to do its own verification on Parchin have roiled lawmakers.
"We can't even take samples there. IAEA can't take samples there. They're going to be able to test by themselves," Sen. Jim Risch, R-Idaho, said at a July 23 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. "Even the NFL wouldn't go along with this."
Secretary of State John Kerry would not address the issue when confronted, saying it was a classified matter, though Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, sitting beside Kerry, shook his head silently when the issue was raised.
But State Department spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday in the wake of the AP report that the Obama administration was fine with the IAEA's arrangements with Iran.
"We're confident in the agency's technical plans for investigating the possible military dimensions of Iran's former program, issues that in some cases date back more than a decade," he said.
"Just as importantly, IAEA is comfortable with arrangements which are unique to the agency's investigation of Iran's historical activities."
He also indicated the U.S. and other countries in the P5+1 are apparently powerless to renegotiate the IAEA's arrangement, and said it's "not for the P5+1 to endorse or negate."
The issue is likely to reinforce opponents' belief that the nuclear deal is not a good one for the United States, though it remains to be seen whether it will sway any lawmakers on the fence.
House Speaker John Boehner released a statement late Wednesday saying the "Obama administration has a lot of explaining to do."
"President Obama boasts his deal includes 'unprecedented verification.' He claims it's not built on trust. But the administration's briefings on these side deals have been totally insufficient – and it still isn't clear whether anyone at the White House has seen the final documents," he said. "The American people and their representatives in Congress have serious questions about whether this nuclear agreement will keep our country safe, and it's time for this administration to provide honest answers."
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., cited Parchin in a speech Tuesday announcing his opposition to the nuclear deal, saying it "would be the equivalent of having an athlete accused of using performance enhancing drugs submit an unsupervised urine sample to the appropriate authority."
But Menendez has been a persistent critic of the negotiating process all along, and was widely expected to oppose the deal.