Two Western diplomats said UN nuclear watchdog inspectors will be present with Iranian technicians as they take samples from a key military site called Parchin, Reuters reported on Friday. The diplomats were familiar with details of a confidential arrangement between Iran and the U.N. nuclear watchdog for inspections at the Parchin site, where some countries suspect nuclear weapons-related tests may have taken place.
An August report by the Associated Press said the agreement on Parchin suggested that IAEA inspectors would be barred from the site and would have to rely on information and environmental samples provided by Iranian technicians.
The report was seized on by Republicans in the U.S. Congress as proof that President Barack Obama’s administration gave in to Iran on the sensitive issue of inspections to check on Tehran’s suspected ambition to build a nuclear bomb.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano though he declined to provide details of what some Republicans described as a “secret side deal” between Iran and the IAEA on Parchin
The signed agreement between Iran and the IAEA has not been disclosed publicly.
But the Western diplomats told Reuters that while Iranians would be allowed to take the samples themselves, the agency’s inspectors would be physically present and would have full access to their activity.
“There was a compromise so the Iranians could save face and the IAEA could ensure it carried out its inspections according to their strict requirements,” said one of the diplomats.    Inspections at the Parchin site, which is about 30 km (19 miles) southeast of Tehran, would by carried out by mixed IAEA and Iranian teams coupled with cameras overlooking and recording the process, the other diplomat said.
“The IAEA will be present when the Iranians take the samples (at Parchin).  ” the diplomat said.
Neither the IAEA nor Iran’s U.N. missions in New York or Vienna had an immediate response to queries about the Parchin inspection arrangement