Iran has agreed to a new inspection program of its nuclear facilities by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency. A timetable has been set for international inspectors to visit the facilities, and the IAEA has hailed the agreement as an “important milestone”. However, like all propositions which could produce a favorable solution to a tense situation, the US is particularly opposed.

US envoy to the IAEA Gregory Schulte said, “Cooperation that is partial, conditional, and only promised in the future is not enough. Cooperation that allows Iran to proceed developing the capacity to build nuclear weapons is also not enough.” Schulte continued, “If Iran’s leaders truly want the world’s trust, they would stop trying to manipulate the IAEA, start to co-operate fully and unconditionally, and suspend activities of concern.”

However, Schulte’s comments do not reflect the reality of the situation. In reality, the administration has consistently failed to prove that Iran is interested in building nuclear weapons. Despite the fact that Iran has every right to continue enriching uranium, the UN has passed three hypocritical resolutions thus far, demanding that Iran stop enrichment while failing to put any pressure on the actual threat of Israeli nukes. Iran has also reached out to appease America by allowing all of its nuclear facilities to be jointly owned by an international consortium, including the US. This co-op proposal, which would have allowed for built-in monitoring, was rejected.

During a 2003 inspection, small traces of weapons-grade uranium were found at Natanz, in central Iran, although this was later blamed on contaminated imported equipment, possibly from Russia. Weapons-grade uranium is often recycled. The US itself has been known to downblend weapons-grade ex-Soviet uranium into low-enriched-uranium for use in commercial reactors.

The IAEA has previously stated that nearly all US intelligence shared with the agency has “proved to be wrong”. Around 70 percent of our intelligence budget is going to private companies which belong to the military industrial complex. Next time you hear an “expert” spread fear about Iran’s nuclear ambitions, remember that “US intelligence” is an oxymoron.

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