Yes, Iran Can Hide Nuclear Weapons in 24 Days.
Iran Deal’s Details Show Fatal Flaws.
When it comes to the Iran deal, the devil is in details, particularly when it comes to verification and arms control.
In the latest spin on the Iran deal’s flawed verification provisions, proponents of the deal are twisting words like pretzels to convince the American public that a nuclear program cannot be hidden in 24 days.
Why 24?
Within the current deal, Iran will have 24 days to prepare for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections.
But many things have to happen before the 24 days clock starts ticking.
Iran can hide elements of its nuclear program despite best radiation detection equipment.
Despite the recent Reuters headline proclaiming, “Why it’s impossible to hide nuclear work in 24 days – or 24 years,” the assertion that Iran can’t hide nuclear weapon work with the 24 day time period is wrong (despite impressive technological advances in the field of radiation detection).
The discussion about the 24 days highlights how the Iran deal is plagued by ambiguities regarding verification and monitoring. This presents a problem with respect to making judgments as to whether the deal is effectively verifiable and whether the International Atomic Energy Agency will be able to find out about Iran’s cheating.
The latter is a particularly salient issue given decades of Iran’s deception and lying about the nature and scale of its nuclear program.
To add insult to injury, agreements between the IAEA and Iran are not available to Congress or the American public, even though Iran’s parliament has access to them. The administration did not release the unclassified part of its assessment of Iran deal’s verifiability, further obstructing an informed public discussion.
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