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Iran Will Hire Iran to Inspect Nuclear Facilities in Iran That Iran Denies Having

Major concessions revealed as the AP reports on a secret side deal between the U.N. and Tehran

by
Jonathan Zalman
August 19, 2015
Wikipedia
An Iranian 40 megawatt (thermal) heavy water reactor under construction near Arak, Iran. Wikipedia
Wikipedia
An Iranian 40 megawatt (thermal) heavy water reactor under construction near Arak, Iran. Wikipedia

It’s an odd bit of news that feels akin to the type of satirical ointment The Onion would slather over the nuclear arms deal with Iran: On Wednesday, George Jahn of the AP reported on a secret side agreement, as evidenced by a document entitled “separate arrangement II,” between Tehran and the U.N.s International Atomic Energy Agency that allows Iran “to use its own inspectors to investigate a site it has been accused of using to develop nuclear arms.” (Wait, what about “separate arrangement I”?)

The facility in question is the Parchin Military Complex, located about 20 miles southeast of Tehran. Earlier this month, a U.S. think tank accused the facility undergoing a “clean-up” (or sanitation) operation intended to hide any nuclear development activity from IAEA inspectors before they arrived. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif called these accusations “lies.” But now, of course, the debate is moot as Iran does not have to worry about IAEA inspectors knocking down the doors at Parchin—they’ll bring their own flashlights.

According to the AP, “The United States and the five other world powers were not party to it but were briefed by the IAEA and endorsed it as part of the larger package.”

Jonathan Zalman is a writer and teacher based in Brooklyn.