US seeks to check Iran military sites
UNITED NATIONS - Reuters
The United States wants to know if the United Nations atomic watchdog plans to inspect Iranian military sites to verify Tehran's compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said on Aug. 22.Haley was set to meet with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials in Vienna yesterday for what she described as a fact-finding mission, which is part of President Donald Trump's review of the deal Iran made with world powers to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of most sanctions.
"If you look ... at past Iranian behavior, what you've seen is there have been covert actions at military sites, at universities, things like that," Haley, a member of Trump's cabinet, told Reuters in an interview.
"There were already issues in those locations, so are they including that in what they look at to make sure that those issues no longer remain?" she said. "They have the authority to look at military sites now. They have the authority to look at any suspicious sites now, it's just are they doing it?"
She said she was traveling to Vienna to ask questions, not to push the IAEA to do anything.
Iran's top authorities have flatly rejected giving international inspectors access to their military sites, and Iranian officials have told Reuters that any such move would trigger harsh consequences.
"Why would they say that if they had nothing to hide? Why wouldn't they let the IAEA go there?" Haley said.
The IAEA polices restrictions the deal placed on Iran's nuclear activities and reports quarterly.
