| Submit your comments on this article |
| International-UN-NGOs |
| Iran Hands IAEA Samples from Suspect Parchin Site |
| 2015-09-22 |
| [AnNahar] Iran said Monday it independently collected samples at a suspect military site where illicit nuclear work is alleged to have occurred and later handed them to the U.N.'s absent inspectors. The disclosure that international monitors were not physically present is likely to feed critics of a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, who have poured scorn on measures used to check if Tehran's atomic program is peaceful. In a mark of the high stakes at play it drew a quick reaction from the U.N.'s ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency, whose chief insisted that "the integrity of the sampling process and the authenticity of the samples" was not compromised. The samples were taken under "established procedures", IAEA director general Yukiya Amano said, noting "significant progress" is being made in its long-running probe of whether Iran ever sought to develop a nuclear bomb. The site at Parchin, east of the capital Tehran, has been at the center of international skepticism of Iran's activities, specifically that as late as 2003 it carried out work there aimed at developing an atomic weapon. Iran says accusations from Western intelligence agencies -- including that it conducted explosives tests at Parchin -- are groundless and based on malicious information provided by its enemies. The sample taking is linked to a so-called roadmap with a December 15 deadline by when the IAEA says ambiguities about past possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear activities must be resolved. Much work remains to be done on that report, Amano said. Iran's environmental sampling from specific parts of the Parchin complex took place in the past week. "It was done by Iranian experts, in the absence of IAEA inspectors," said Behrouz Kamalvandi, front man for Iran's Atomic Energy Organization. IAEA and Iranian officials have previously said monitoring can be verified in real time by satellites and sophisticated geolocation technology. Amano, speaking a day after he visited Tehran and was unexpectedly granted access to Parchin, appeared to reiterate that capability while acknowledging Iran's recent role. "In the case of Parchin, the Iranian side played a part in the sample-taking process by swiping samples," Amano said in Vienna, adding his experts would analyze them in the coming weeks. "The agency can confirm the integrity of the sampling process and the authenticity of the samples, which were taken at places of interest to the agency at the particular location in Parchin." |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #4 Wouldn't it be a hoot if the samples were old coffee grounds. And for kickers, Panamanian coffee. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2015-09-22 13:48 |
| #3 |
| Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy 2015-09-22 13:44 |
| #2 I'm sure the lockstep traitorous Democrats who voted for this crap will allow Republicans to count the votes in 2016, amirite? After all, we wouldn't cheat or lie, just like the trusted Iranians. |
| Posted by: Frank G 2015-09-22 08:47 |
| #1 I wonder if Mr. Obama also allowed his students to submit unverifiable/made-up source material with their papers? Yeah, he was too distracted by his own greatness to check. |
| Posted by: Vast Right Wing Conspiracy 2015-09-22 08:18 |