Could Parchin Leak Sway Undecideds on Iran Deal?

Opponents of the nuclear deal with Iran suggested Wednesday evening that revelations that Tehran would “self-inspect” a suspected nuclear-related site could sway undecided members of Congress away from supporting the agreement at next month’s vote.'

Hours after the Associated Press exposed a leaked document that seems to allow Tehran to provide its own inspectors and equipment, as well as determine which areas are off-limits, for the International Atomic Energy Agency’s probe of the military facility at Parchin, critics renewed calls for the entire agreement between the IAEA and Iran to be disclosed to Congress — an agreement described by some in Washington as part of “secret side deals” with the UN watchdog.

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Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and a frequent participant in Capitol Hill hearings on the deal, described the parameters delineated in the leaked document as “a dangerous precedent.

“President Obama’s Iran deal is a massive bet on verification and inspection of a nuclear program that will expand over time as key restrictions disappear under the agreement,” he said. “Now we are learning that verification and inspection of military sites where Iran has engaged in weaponization activities seems to be based on Iranian self-verification and self-inspection. That’s a dangerous precedent and consistent with Iran’s repeated claims that no weapons inspectors will ever get into its military sites.”

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