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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Iran stymies IAEA again

From Reuters:
Inspectors from the U.N. nuclear watchdog arrived in Tehran on Thursday to hold talks over Iran's disputed nuclear program but there was no sign they would gain access to the Parchin military complex as requested.

The Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) said "no plans were announced yet for inspectors to visit Iran's nuclear facilities or other sites", without giving a source.

Thursday's talks in Tehran are the first such meeting between the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran since August.

The IAEA wants an agreement that would enable its inspectors to visit a military complex, Parchin, and other sites that it suspects may be linked to what it has called the "possible military dimensions" to Iran's nuclear program.

The nuclear watchdog believes Iran has conducted explosives tests with possible nuclear applications at Parchin, a sprawling facility southeast of Tehran, and has repeatedly asked for access.
The IAEA had previously expressed frustration at being denied access the Parchin, which satellite images show as a site of very suspicious activity.

Evidence of a military component to Iran's nuclear program has been mounting steadily.

Today, ISIS says:

The latest commercial satellite imagery from the alleged Parchin high explosive test site in Iran shows a steady pace of what appears to be the “reconstruction” phase of the site which between April and July 2012 had undergone considerable alterations. Such alterations included building demolitions and earth displacement. Figures 1 through 4 provide a reverse timeline of imagery starting from the latest changes to before major alterations began in late spring 2012.
(h/t CHA)