Iran nuclear deal hinges on IAEA access to long-blocked atomic weapon sites, experts say

Having crushed Iran's nuclear capabilities during two wars in joint attacks with the Israelis, the latest and most significant chapter of whether there will be peace is whether the regime will allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency access to its nuclear weapons facilities.Conflicting statements and reports from President Trump and Iran's foreign ministry suggest the U.N.’s IAEA will face the same recalcitrant policy from Tehran it has experienced for two decades in blocking its inspectors from conducting robust verification of the clerical regime’s vast nuclear facilities, including underground compounds.The IAEA sticking point might be a deal-breaker for President Trump.David Albright, who is widely viewed as one of the world’s leading experts on Iran’s nuclear weapons program, told Fox News Digital the "IAEA comes up short" in its efforts to secure information and verification about Iran’s nuclear weapons program because "Iran has not cooperated for twenty years."THE RACE AGAINST TIME TO DESTROY IRAN’S ILLICIT NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM HEATS UP AMID FRESH STRIKESFile shot of unidentified International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors at the nuclear research center of Natanz on Jan.
20, 2014.(Kazem Ghane /IRNA/AFP via Getty Images)Albright, a physicist and president of the Institute for Science and International Security said, "Iran loves to generate plans of action that can be extended" and the process becomes a "pointless exercise."For Iran experts like Albright, Iran’s skill in the art of procrastination has allowed it to stretch out talks over the decades while working to advance its work on a nuclear weapons device and a missile system to deliver it.As a result, Albright said "it colors my view of the MOU [Memorandum of Understanding]" agreed to between the U.S.
and Iran that codifies IAEA inspections of Iran’s atomic weapons program.Albright sees the IAEA as a key test for the success of U.S.-Iran talks."The way Ir...