U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley released a statement Thursday slamming countries that “are attempting to shield Iran from even more inspections,” saying that “without inspections, the Iran deal is an empty promise.”
“If the Iran nuclear deal is to have any meaning, the parties must have a common understanding of its terms,” Haley said. “Iranian officials have already said they will refuse to allow inspections at military sites, even though the IAEA says there must be no distinction between military and non-military sites.”
According to the nuclear deal, the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is “permitted to seek access to any location in Iran, including military-affiliated sites, where the IAEA has questions about possible nuclear-related activities.”
In a part of her statement that, according to AFP, was aimed at Russia, Haley added: “Now it appears that some countries are attempting to shield Iran from even more inspections. Without inspections, the Iran deal is an empty promise.”
According to Reuters, Haley issued the statement in response to IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano saying that “major powers needed to clarify the disputed section of the deal, which relates to technology that could be used to develop an atom bomb.”
Since that part of the nuclear deal, known as Section T, does not mention of the IAEA or specifics of how it will be verified. Russia reportedly says that means the IAEA does not have authority over it.
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Haley said earlier this month that the president has grounds to leave the Iran deal, citing, among other things, the current inability to verify compliance through inspections.
"If the president finds that he cannot certify Iranian compliance,” she said at the time, “it would be a message to Congress that the administration believes either that Iran is in violation of the deal, or that the lifting of sanctions against Iran is not appropriate and proportional to the regime’s behavior, or that the lifting of sanctions is not in the U.S. national security interest, or any combination of the three.”
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