Parchin Inspection Plan Won't Work, IAEA's Credibility On the Line, Says Ex-Deputy

"The nuclear deal's mechanism for inspecting Iran's Parchin military complex appears to be unreasonably lax, the former number two official at the United Nations nuclear watchdog said this week.

In an interview with The Times of Israel, Olli Heinonen, who served as the International Atomic Energy Agency's deputy director-general, called on the Vienna-based body to release the as-of-yet undisclosed side agreements with Iran, which are part of broader pact Tehran and six world powers struck in July.

It remains unclear how exactly the IAEA will conduct its inspections at Parchin, which are meant to provide definitive answers on Iran's nuclear activity at the site prior to the deal. According to a leaked draft of the agreement, published last month by The Associated Press, Iran will provide the agency with photos, videos and environmental samples.

'The key question is: will the IAEA be present during the sample-taking or not?' Heinonen wondered. 'It looks to me that they might be witnessing the sample-taking through some camera view, or from a distance. If that's really the case I have a lot of reservations about the reasonability and credibility of the arrangements.'

Heinonen - who worked for the IAEA for nearly three decades and headed the agency's Department of Safeguards - explained that taking samples at a site suspected of having hosted illicit nuclear activity is no simple feat...

'You need to be present and see physically the place. Therefore, for the IAEA to do a credible job they need to get to that chamber and take independently their samples.'... Heinonen, a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, called on the IAEA to release all its agreements with Iran.

'Why not make this public so we can see whether is this a good agreement or not? Put the facts on the table and then we can have a better understanding of what takes place,' he told The Times of Israel. 'I don't see any reason for secrecy here.'..."