Reports

Parchin in the IAEA’s Final Assessment on the PMD to Iran’s Nuclear Program

by David Albright and Serena Kelleher-Vergantini

December 3, 2015

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The Parchin issue has been one of the main key outstanding issues to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in resolving its concerns about Iran’s past and possibly on-going nuclear weapons work and military fuel cycle activities. The Parchin Military Complex in Iran became of particular public interest in early 2012 after the IAEA requested access to the site to investigate information it had suggesting Iran conducted high explosive tests relating to the development of nuclear weapons. Despite repeated requests by the IAEA and its Board of Governors to allow IAEA inspectors to access this specific site, Iran denied access, and instead, undertook substantial reconstruction and site modifications.

In the IAEA’s December 2, 2015 Final Assessment on Past and Present Outstanding Issues Regarding Iran’s Nuclear Programme, it was able to make very limited additional progress on fully resolving this issue. The IAEA should be given the authority in the upcoming IAEA Board of Governors resolution to undertake additional investigatory efforts, including sampling, visits, and interviews, at the Parchin site in order to draw a full conclusion about what occurred there.

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