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Iran's History of Nuclear Deceit Is Why There Hasn't Been a Deal Yet
(Business Insider) Emanuele Ottolenghi - The Iranian nuclear file remains unresolved because of Iran's consistent refusal to transparently and fully account for its illicit nuclear program. The current international standoff may be traced to 2002, when Iranian dissidents exposed extensive clandestine nuclear activities at the Natanz uranium-enrichment facility and the Arak heavy water reactor. Tehran's subsequent maneuvers eventually led the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in September 2005, to declare it in non-compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The following year, the IAEA referred the Iran file to the UN Security Council, whose six subsequent resolutions have underscored the country's unwavering defiance of the international community. A third clandestine enrichment facility, Fordow, built deep underground, was revealed after Western intelligence services detected it in 2009. Only permanent limitations on the scope and size of Iran's nuclear program - and a lengthy period of verifiable compliance - can restore the international confidence that Iran has so assiduously betrayed. The writer is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.