On Monday, the Obama White House praised Iran for cooperating with international inspectors–as Iran inspected its own military facility for evidence of nuclear activity.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran had taken its own samples at the Parchin military site, suspected of being a site for nuclear weapons research. It then handed those samples to the IAEA, under the terms of a confidential side deal.
Congress was never shown that side deal, though the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (the “Corker bill) required the White House to provide the text of all side agreements. One of at least two IAEA-Iran deals eventually leaked via the media.
The Obama administration then claimed that while it could not divulge the details of the deal, the IAEA was confident in its processes, and would be able to monitor the samples at Parchin as Iran took them.
In the interim, Iran undertook construction and renovation at Parchin, allegedly to “sanitize” the site. In any case, experts such as David Albright of the Institute for Science and International Security have warned that the IAEA’s process of monitoring via video cannot possibly direct the sampling process in a credible way.
As long as Iran is in control of what international inspectors can see, it can keep the critical evidence of banned nuclear activity hidden.
For President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party, the IAEA’s admission that Iran was allowed to take its own nuclear samples ought to be an embarrassment.
Instead, the White House is doubling down, with spokesman Josh Earnest claiming Monday that “we now see indications that Iran is cooperating with IAEA inspections.” If those inspections are inadequate, Iran’s cooperation means nothing. The truth remains hidden from the American public.
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