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The chief of the U.N. nuclear agency insisted Monday that a probe of a suspected nuclear weapons research site in Iran does meet strict agency standards, while acknowledging that Iranian experts provided samples from the site for analysis. Such sampling is usually done by the International Atomic Energy Agency’s own experts. But IAEA chief Yukiya Amano told reporters that Iranians carried out that part of the probe at Parchin, where the agency suspects that explosive triggers for nuclear weapons might have been tested. The arrangement was first revealed in confidential draft agreement between the sides seen last month by The...

A spokesman for Iran’s atomic agency announced Monday that Iranian scientists collected environmental samples from a military site without international inspectors present, a move sure to evoke anger from opponents of the Iran nuclear deal who charge it with having lax inspection provisions. {Snip} The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday that the Iranian self-verification activities at Parchin were “conducted in a manner consistent with our standard safeguards practices.” “The agency can confirm the integrity of the sampling process and the authenticity of the samples, which were taken at places of interest to the Agency at the...

Environmental samples have been taken at a sensitive military site in Iran, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said on Monday, citing "significant progress" in its investigation of Tehran's past activities. Such sampling is usually done by experts of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency. But IAEA chief Yukiya Amano says that Iranians carried out that part of the probe at Parchin. The transfer appeared to be part of a confidential draft agreement with the agency that allows Iran to gather its own samples. Inspecting the Parchin military site is a crucial part of the International Atomic Energy Agency's...

On Sunday, the director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, arrived in Iran for talks on the nuclear agreement, as part of what appears to be an attempt by the UN nuclear watchdog to evaluate whether Iran ran a military nuclear program in the past. Amano is expected to meet with various Iranian nuclear scientists for answers on this very subject. On December 15, ahead of the lifting of crippling economic sanctions on Tehran, he is slated to present the world with definitive answers that will determine whether Iran complied with the terms of a nuclear deal signed...

Iran’s official IRNA news service says the country has given samples to the U.N. nuclear agency from its Parchin military site, where it once allegedly worked on triggers for nuclear weapons. Monday’s report quotes Iran’s atomic energy agency spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi as saying that “last week, several environment samples… taken by Iranian experts without the presence of the agency’s inspectors, were given to the U.N. nuclear inspectors.” …

Today’s vote has now been delayed and the House GOP caucus will meet at 4 p.m. to find a way forward because John Boehner once again miscalculated the degree of support he had in his own caucus .Members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus are demanding that the Obama administration send side deals between Iran and international nuclear inspectors to Congress as part of the Iran deal now under consideration. Opponents of the deal have argued that the clock on congressional consideration of the deal has not even begun until these side deals are submitted. Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.) has...

Iran appears to have built an extension to part of its Parchin military site since May, the UN nuclear watchdog said in a report obtained by the Reuters news agency on Thursday. A resolution of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Parchin file, which includes a demand for fresh IAEA access to the site, is a symbolically important issue that could help make or break Tehran's July 14 nuclear deal with six world powers. The confidential IAEA report obtained by the news agency says, "Since (our) previous report (in May), at a particular location at the Parchin site, the agency...

VIENNA - The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Tuesday it will run out of money next month to monitor implementation of nuclear accords with Tehran and asked countries to increase funding the costs of its Iran work, which will rise to $10 million a year. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano said he had asked member states for contributions to ensure its work can go ahead. Under the agreement reached between Tehran and six world powers on July 14, sanctions relief for Iran hinges on IAEA reports on its past and present nuclear program. So far, costs for...

The presidential administration that vowed to be the most transparent since the baptism of Nkuwu Nzinga has once again demonstrated that such vows mean nothing to it. In addition to the secretive manner in which Secretary of State John Kerry conducted negotiations with the Islamic Republic of Iran over its nuclear program — in itself secretive — there was also the matter of secret “side deals” between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency. And now, additional side deals, this time between President Barack Obama and the leaders of foreign governments, have also come to light. Republican Sens. Marco Rubio...

Two leading U.S. senators are calling on the Obama administration to release secret letters to foreign governments assuring them that they will not be legally penalized for doing business with the Iranian government, according to a copy of a letter sent Wednesday to the State Department and obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. Sens. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) and Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) disclosed in the letter to the State Department that U.S. lawmakers have been shown copies of several letters sent by the Obama administration to the Chinese, German, French, and British governments assuring them that companies doing business

Former CIA Director James Woolsey says a report that Iran will be allowed to use its own inspectors to investigate a site where it may develop nuclear arms is so mind-boggling, it's almost like watching "Saturday Night Live." "I thought it was a 'Saturday Night Live' skit. I mean not seriously but I couldn't believe it that they would let the Iranians inspect themselves," Woolsey said Thursday on Newsmax TV to J.D. Hayworth, host of "Newsmax Prime." "What do they have to do? Take a trip to the photo shop on the way to the data exchange so they can...

The maintenance and intensification of the American sanctions regime imposed on Iran, even in the absence of a tight international sanctions regime, could lead to a better deal than the one reached last month in Vienna, an Israeli expert on arms said. Emily Landau, head of the arms control and regional security program at the Institute for National Security Studies based at Tel Aviv University, is one of Israel’s most respected expert observers on the Iranian nuclear program. In an interview, she said that the nuclear accord struck between the P5+1 powers and Iran on July 14 was the result...

Liberals are outraged. No, it isn't about Planned Parenthood sorting parts of babies in pie pans and selling them at a profit. And no, they aren't outraged over the abortion giant selling whole baby cadavers in order to keep body parts "intact." Nor are they outraged over Planned Parenthood cutting out the brains of babies while their hearts are still beating. They are, however, suddenly concerned about babies of illegal immigrants born in the United States being called "anchor babies" by GOP presidential candidates.

As intense discussions regarding the Iran nuclear agreement continue, President Barack Obama will address the North American Jewish community next Friday, August 28, at 2:10 p.m. Eastern Time. Obama will participate in a live webcast to deliver remarks to and take questions from participants across the United States and Canada in an event co-sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and The Jewish Federations of North America, according to a statement released on Thursday. Previously, the two groups have hosted webcasts and forums on the Iran nuclear agreement with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, U.S. Secretary...

Former Indiana Senator Richard G. Lugar became the first high profile Republican this week to endorse President Obama’s hugely controversial nuclear deal with Iran’s revolutionary Islamic government. If Congress is unable to override an expected presidential veto, in addition to $150 billion in immediate sanctions relief, the deal will guarantee the same radical Iranian regime that openly calls for the annihilation of an entire nation state both the legal right and practical ability to develop an industrial scale nuclear weapons infrastructure along with the intercontinental ballistic missile systems necessary to deliver nuclear payloads anywhere on earth. Speaking on MSNBC, the...

By MG Paul Vallely, U.S. Army (Ret) And LTC Dennis B. Haney, USAF (Ret) August 20, 2015 Since 1979, a cabal of nations has aided and abetted Iran in its efforts to develop a robust nuclear program under the guise of generating a nuclear energy system. This cabal is mainly comprised of Russia, China, and North Korea. Since sanctions began being placed on Iran in 1979, with more added since, Iran still had enough free reign to develop its capabilities despite the sanctions regime because of this cabal. All the moving parts are in place, the material is there, and...

The recent and ongoing actions of the Iranian leadership could easily lead you to believe they don’t want the U.S. Congress to approve the nuclear deal. It may seem counterintuitive, but there are a number of plausible reasons this might make sense to the Iranians. First, the Iranians attained almost every concession they wanted in negotiations such as removing sanctions and a clear path to removal of the embargo on conventional weapons and even ballistic missiles when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was approved by the United Nations Security Council. The line at the Iranian Minister of Commerce’s...

In an exclusive interview with the FARtz News Agency, President Obama today voiced firm support for any deal bewteen Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency permitting Iran to know for sure what it hasn't been doing at its alleged military sites.Editor’s note: This is a guest post by my (imaginary) colleague, the Very Honorable Ima Librul, Senator from the great State of Confusion Utopia. He is a founding member of CCCEB (Climate Change Causes Everything Bad), a charter member of President Obama’s Go For it Team, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the Meretricious Relations Subcommittee. He is also...

Confirmation of Iran’s intention to develop nuclear weapons comes in the form of the announcement that the sale of Russia’s sophisticated and state-of-the-art S300 air and missile defense missile system has now reached the delivery stage. One does not need such weaponry to defend reactors generating nothing but electricity. In touting his deal with Iran over its nuclear program, which at best merely kicks the can past the end of his presidency so others can be blamed when it fails, President Obama has said that if Iran breaks the agreement we will know it. That sale and delivery of the...

What could go wrong? Don’t worry. This is fine. Everyone has known for years that Iran was working to develop weapons at its Parchin nuclear site, so when Iran sends in its own inspectors to gather soil samples, take pictures and send everything to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency . . . dude, why would they lie? You don’t think a super-tough negotiator like John Kerry would accept a provision that would make it that easy for the mad mullahs to thumb their noses at the vaunted deal and just keep right on doing what they’ve been doing, do...