Arms Inspectors Seek Access To Sites

The New York Times reports that international inspectors are requesting access to two secret ian military sites where intelligence suggests that Tehran's Ministry of Defense may be working on atomic weapons:

The inspectors at the International Atomic Energy Agency base their suspicions on a mix of satellite photographs indicating the testing of high explosives and procurement records showing the purchase of equipment that can be used for enriching uranium, the diplomats said. Both are critical steps in the development of nuclear arms.

The suspicions were aired here as an ian opposition group was preparing to release what it called new information that was secretly developing a nuclear-capable missile whose range is significantly greater than what the ians have publicly acknowledged to date.

[. . .]

Mohamed ElBaradei, the director general of the I.A.E.A., said in an interview here on Wednesday that he had repeatedly asked for access to the two sites, but that it had not yet been granted.

"We are following every credible piece of information," he said. Understanding the exact significance of what is happening at the two military sites is "important," he added. "We still have work to do, a lot of work." He estimated that even with full ian cooperation, it would take at least two years to resolve all of the outstanding questions surrounding the country's nuclear program.

"We're not rushing," he said. "It takes time."

It's going to take so much time that the I.A.E.A. will only understand what is happening when tests an atomic weapon.

Comments

[Eaglespeak]

Your concluding statement is right on the money - Iran is buying as much time as it can and playing the UN, IAEA and the others in a variation of rope-a-dope.