Iran’s nuclear programme: IAEA chief visits controversial Parchin site
Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Yukiya Amano, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations global nuclear watchdog, yesterday travelled to Iran's Parchin military complex, which is located about 30 km south-east of Tehran.
Western intelligence agencies have long suspected that nuclear arms research takes place at Parchin, which is currently undergoing renovation work.
Yesterday's visit is part of the ongoing efforts to clarify some ambiguities about any military component to Iran’s nuclear programme.
For the Western bloc, allowing IAEA inspectors into the site was an essential part of the deal. International inspectors had previously only had limited access to the complex.
Under the new deal, inspectors from the IAEA will continuously monitor Iran's declared nuclear sites and verify that no fissile material is moved covertly to a secret location for a bomb.
Iran has also agreed to allow inspectors to access any site they deem suspicious.
Behrouz Kamalvandi of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran told news agency IRNA that Mr Amano had visited the "disputed parts" of Parchin on Sunday.
For Top Iranian nuclear official Ali Akbar Salehi, the Amano visit "went well and worked within the agreed roadmap" for implementing the deal.
Iran has rejected allegations about nuclear activity at Parchin, saying the charges were based on faulty intelligence by Israel and the United States.
In mid-July, Iran and the 5+1 group (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, i.e. the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, plus Germany) reached an historic agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme.
The deal imposes limits on the latter with the IAEA able to send inspectors to monitor the country’s nuclear facilities. In exchange, sanctions on Iran will be lifted. However, an arms embargo remains in place for five years.
The agreement has largely met with favour in the international community, except for a few critics, most notably Israel and the Republican-dominated US Congress.
Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says most Iranians back the nuclear deal with the six world powers, including the United States, even if some headliners denounce it.
In an interview with CBS television's 60 Minutes on Sunday, President Rouhani said that key Iranian bodies, including the nation’s parliament and security council, usually follow public opinion.
The president called the deal a very difficult agreement, but the right agreement and the first step towards decreasing enmity and distrust between Iran and the United States.
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