Former IAEA deputy director general Olli Heinonen has described Iran as a particularly sensitive case however, saying he knows of no other case where a country under investigation for possibly trying to make nuclear weapons was permitted to use its own personnel to collect environmental samples as part of the investigation. Inspecting the Parchin military complex is a crucial part of the International Atomic Energy Agency's inquiry into whether Iran earlier conducted experiments there related to developing nuclear weapons. Iran denies it has ever sought nuclear weapons, and insists Parchin is a conventional military site. The IAEA is due to provide an assessment of "possible military dimensions" of Iran's nuclear program by the end of the year. That report is a vital confidence-building aspect of Iran's landmark deal with six major powers reached in July, under which restrictions will be placed on Tehran's atomic energy activities in exchange for a lifting of sanctions. He told reporters in Vienna that he was able to enter a building that the agency had been observing via satellite and saw signs of "recent renovation work." Such sampling of soil, air or dust from equipment is usually done by the International Atomic Energy Agency's own experts. The agency has frequently said that subsequent renovation work at and near the building could hamper the IAEA probe, a position Amano repeated on Monday. The Iran arrangement was first revealed in a confidential draft agreement between the sides seen last month by The Associated Press. He said the criteria at Parchin included: invasive monitoring by video and still cameras while the sampling took place; GPS tracking of the sampling process; IAEA agreement on where the samples were to be taken; review by unspecified peers of the inspection process; risk assessment and strict observance to make sure that procedures were followed step by step. Deputy IAEA Director General Tero Varjoranta said that there have been over 40 instances of letting a country being inspected use their own nationals to do their own sampling and that the process is only a small part of a rigid regimen established by the agency to make sure there is no cheating. The chief of the U.N. nuclear agency acknowledged Monday that samples used to determine whether Iran tried to develop a nuclear weapon were collected by the Iranians instead of agency experts, but insisted the probe stands up to strict agency standards.
– It's been 10 years since International Atomic Energy Agency reps have visited Iran's Parchin military site, but they were there yesterday to inspect a building and take environmental samples as part of their quest to keep a sharp eye on the country's nuclear machinations, Reuters reports. Yukiya Amano, the director general of the watchdog group, and the head of the IAEA's Department of Safeguards were on site to check out the unidentified building, which Amano says was devoid of equipment and showed "indications of recent renovation work," per the news agency. Environmental samples were also taken and sent to Vienna for analysis, which the IAEA notes counts as "significant progress" in monitoring a site whose only oversight by the IAEA has been via satellite over the past decade. The group is due to offer a report on "possible military dimensions" of the site, long suspected of carrying out tests related to nuclear weapon detonations, by year's end. The environmental samples, however, are already controversial thanks to the IAEA's confidential deal with Iran that lets the country hold sway over those inspections, the news agency notes. Amano acknowledged that "the Iranian side played a part in the sample-taking process by swiping samples," though he told reporters at a Vienna news conference today the samples' "authenticity" was ensured via an "established verification process." Amano also said IAEA monitored the sample-gathering, though a statement given by an Iranian atomic energy agency rep to the IRNA state news agency said the samples were taken "without IAEA inspectors being present." At today's news conference, IAEA's deputy director general explained that away, noting there was "invasive monitoring" via video and still cameras, as well as GPS tracking and review by "unspecified peers," as Fox News puts it.