Is Iran secretly building an atomic bomb? The International Atomic Energy Agency wants to shed light on the core issue behind Tehran’s nuclear dispute with the West. While the United States doubts the IAEA’s efficacy, the UN inspectors fear hawks are trying to make them irrelevant — just like before the Iraq war.

This is about as close to Iran’s nuclear facilities as the world can get at the moment. A satellite image of the uranium enrichment complex at Natanz.
In his tenth-floor office at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, Olli Heinonen has a bowl of pistachios on his desk. He brought them back from Iran — a place he’s visited so often he’s stopped counting.

There’s probably no one better informed than the Finn about what’s actually going on inside Tehran’s controversial nuclear program. Heinonen, as the IAEA deputy director, is responsible for nuclear inspections around the world. Before being promoted to that position, Heinonen was in charge of the agency’s Department B, which deals with Iran and is internally described as “B” as in “busy.”

Read full article at Spiegel Online