Former Nuclear Safeguards Official Says AP's
Iran Deal Document Looks Fake
It appears aimed at undermining the nuclear deal, the official says.
By Jessica Schulberg
August 21, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" - "HP"
- WASHINGTON -- A veteran international nuclear official questioned
the authenticity of a document The Associated Press relied upon for
its controversial report that Iran would be allowed to inspect
Parchin, a site suspected of hosting illicit nuclear activity over a
decade ago. He said the document contains wrong terminology and
other signs it may be fake.
Tariq Rauf, the former head of verification and security policy
coordination at the International Atomic Energy Agency, told The
Huffington Post that a document the AP described as
a transcript of a draft agreement between Iran and the IAEA,
published on Thursday, appears bogus, designed to undermine the real
agreement and the broader nuclear pact negotiated between Iran, the
U.S., and five world powers.
"In my personal view, this is not an authentic document," Rauf
said. "Likely a crude attempt to hinder the JCPOA and the Road-map,"
he added, referring to the Iran nuclear deal, and the parallel
agreement between Iran and the IAEA over an investigation into the
possible military dimensions of Parchin, an Iranian military site
thought to have been used for illicit nuclear weapons work prior to
2003.
The AP published an exclusive report on Wednesday alleging that
the IAEA had tasked Iran with conducting inspections at Parchin.
The IAEA and the State Department
implied in vaguely worded statements that the article's claims
were inaccurate, but declined to comment specifically on the
arrangement between Iran and the IAEA, citing confidentiality
obligations.
The AP stood by its story, and on Thursday published what it said
was a complete transcription of a draft of the document, outlining
the parameters for the IAEA's probe into Parchin. The news agency
cited two anonymous officials who it said confirmed that the draft
version it published does not differ from the final version Iran and
the IAEA agreed upon.
But Rauf said he immediately spotted signs that made him question
the authenticity of the leaked document. Rauf, who worked for the
IAEA from 2002 to 2011, now directs the Stockholm International
Peace Research Institute's arms control program.
In an annotated version of the document, provided to HuffPost,
Rauf describes 13 instances of incorrect terminology and practices
that are inconsistent with IAEA safeguards methods.
IAEA Parchin Agreement
Rauf suggested the leaked document may have
surfaced in a way similar to the "Niger Letter," forged
documents leaked prior to the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq that
purported to show Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was purchasing 500
tons of uranium a year from Niger. Former President George W. Bush cited the
findings in his 2003 State of the Union speech as evidence that
Hussein was developing nuclear weapons.
Such a charge is explosive, considering the
historical implications it invokes. Coming amid an increasingly
tense debate over the passage of the larger Iran nuclear accord, it
seems likely to only add additional layers of distrust to the
debate.
"We have been transparent in our reporting," wrote
John Daniszewski, the AP's senior managing editor for international
news, in an emailed statement to HuffPost. "We obtained the draft
from one source and authenticated it with two other sources who have
firsthand knowledge of the final version. These two sources said the
final version did not change substantively from the draft. No
officials have disputed the accuracy of AP's report. We are
confident of our reporting that this draft is authentic and
contained these points."
In declining to comment on the document -- even if
because of confidentiality agreements -- both the White House and
the IAEA also give the impression that they don't believe the
initial draft obtained by the AP is substantially different from the
final version.
Even if the AP's Parchin document is an authentic
representation of the IAEA agreement, however, interpreting what the
language in it implies or means has been difficult.
AP's
report on Wednesday said the wording of the agreement suggests
the IAEA will be "barred from physically visiting the site." But the
text of the document published Thursday says, "Iran will provide to
the Agency ..." leaving it unclear whether officials from the
nuclear watchdog agency will be allowed to enter Parchin. Iran has
allowed IAEA officials into Parchin in the past.
The initial AP report included a quote from the
leaked document that, taken out of context, implied that Iran would
not use materials provided by the IAEA to collect samples from
Parchin: "Activities will be carried out using Iran's authenticated
equipment consistent with technical specifications provided by the
agency." But in the full text of the arrangement published on
Thursday, the second part of that sentence states that Iran will use
the IAEA's containers and seals.
The document relates to a confidential agreement
between Iran and the IAEA that lays out a roadmap for the agency to
resolve questions about whether Iran conducted illicit nuclear
activity at Parchin in the past. U.S. officials say they have been
briefed on the contents of the arrangement, but are not allowed to
see the actual text of the document. The IAEA is scheduled to wrap
up its investigation by the end of the year. On Saturday, the agency
reported that Iran had turned over the required written
documents before the deadline to do so.
Even under ideal conditions, it's unclear whether
the IAEA's investigation into Parchin would be able to uncover new
information. The Iranians have long been suspected of conducting
tests to explode nuclear warheads at Parchin, a site
known to be used to develop conventional rockets, ammunitions,
and explosives. But a 2007 U.S. intelligence report found that the
Iranians had ceased nuclear weapons-related activity in 2003 --
giving them 12 years to scrub, repaint and resurface the facility.
