Secret deal reportedly lets Iran inspect its own nuclear site

Iran nuclear site
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that, under a "secret agreement" with the United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran will be permitted to use its own experts to inspect a site the country had allegedly used to develop nuclear weapons. The deal between the IAEA and Iran was discovered when AP got ahold of a document that the Obama administration had described as "nothing more than a routine technical arrangement." What AP discovered, however, seemed far from the routine agreements IAEA makes with member countries to monitor their nuclear programs:

"The agreement diverges from normal inspection procedures between the IAEA and a member country by essentially ceding the agency's investigative authority to Iran. It allows Tehran to employ its own experts and equipment in the search for evidence for activities that it has consistently denied — trying to develop nuclear weapons." [The Associated Press]

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More