VIENNA — Iran will be allowed to use its own experts to inspect a site it allegedly used to develop nuclear arms under a secret agreement with the United Nations agency that normally carries out such work, according to a document seen by The Associated Press.
The investigation of the Parchin nuclear site by the International Atomic Energy Agency is linked to a broader probe of allegations that Iran has worked on atomic weapons. That investigation is part of the overarching nuclear deal.
The Parchin deal is a separate, side agreement worked out between the agency and Iran. The United States and the five other world powers that signed the Iran nuclear deal were not party to this agreement but were briefed on it by the agency and endorsed it as part of the larger package.
Without divulging its contents, President Barack Obama's administration has described the document as nothing more than a routine technical arrangement between Iran and the U.N.'s agency on the particulars of inspecting the site.