Key equipment at a sensitive Iranian military site turned out to be gone when international nuclear inspectors visited, Fox News is told, suggesting Tehran tried to “sanitize” the facility to further obfuscate how far its program had progressed, leading up to the nuclear deal.
It was only last month that the Iranians granted access to its secret military site known as Parchin.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, had previously confirmed that Parchin contained a so-called “containment vessel” — a special chamber — for testing nuclear equipment including triggers to detonate a warhead.
Yet Fox News is told that when the IAEA toured the site for its upcoming report on Iran’s past and present program, the containment facility and equipment were gone, making it that much harder to test for radioactive residue. The source was not authorized to speak on the record.
On Sept. 21, after his visit to Tehran, the head of the IAEA, Director General Yukiya Amano, confirmed renovations had taken place at Parchin and equipment was missing but provided no further detail.
“We entered a building which the Agency had previously only been able to observe using satellite imagery. Inside the building, we saw indications of recent renovation work. There was no equipment in the building,” Amano said.
