Vox Debunks Myth That Inspectors Have To Wait 24 Days Before Accessing Undeclared Iranian Nuclear Sites

Vox: “Iran Deal Critics Are Lying” About Iran Inspection Process. In an August 19 article, Vox explained that while “conservative media have hammered” at the idea that “nuclear inspectors must wait 24 days before visiting any place in Iran that is not a declared nuclear site,” their fearmongering “is all largely false.” In reality, as Vox noted, the Iran deal requires that Iran allow access to inspectors within 24 hours, and even if Iran delays access, the radiation required to build a bomb will be “detectable long after 24 days”:

• Under an agreement that Iran has accepted called the Additional Protocol , inspectors are required access within 24 hours. This other, multi-day process is meant as a fail-safe in case that doesn't work.

• Critics claim that because the process could, in theory, take up to 24 days, it means Iran can force inspectors to wait 24 days. This is false. Iran does not control every step of the process -- the US and its allies could force a vote on the international commission right away, for example -- so it is nonsense to argue that Iran could unilaterally delay inspection up to 24 full days.

• Even if Iran does push for as much delaying as possible, that would be like waving a big, neon-lit invitation over that particular site to Western spy agencies, which have a very good track record of spotting illicit Iranian nuclear activity. If Iran carted out material or bulldozed a test chamber or something, we would spot it, and the jig would be up.

• Nuclear radiation lasts a very long time. If Iran wants to enrich uranium, it will produce radioactive isotopes that cannot be scrubbed out. Yes, there are non-radioactive activities that Iran could conduct, but you need the radioactive stuff to build a bomb, and that is detectable long after 24 days.

• Iran deal critics pretend that during this process, the US and its allies would be powerless, essentially held hostage by Iranian intransigence. In fact, they have a variety of tools built into the deal by which they can pressure Iran to let in inspectors, and if necessary can blow up the deal by bringing back sanctions. [Vox, 8/19/15]

Fox News Repeatedly Claims That Inspectors Will Face A 24-Day Delay On Iranian Site Inspections

Fox's Bill Hemmer: Inspectors Will Have To Wait 24 Days Before Inspecting Nuclear Sites. On the August 5 edition of Fox News' America's Newsroom, Bill Hemmer falsely claimed that under the Iran deal, inspectors have to wait 24 day before they are able to search nuclear sites in Iran. [Fox News, America's Newsroom, 8/5/15]

Fox Host Neil Cavuto: Inspectors “Can't Move Before 24 Days.” On the August 4 edition of Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, the host asserted “The fact that they have 24 days and can't move before 24 days on even the suspicion of the Iranians playing with this Iranian stockpile is indeed worrisome.” [Fox News, Your World with Neil Cavuto, 8/4/15]

Hannity: “They Get 24 Days To Clean Up Their Mess Before Inspectors” Arrive. On the July 27 edition of Hannity, Sean Hannity declared that, “the Iranian Deal couldn't get any worse,” asserting that Iran will have “24 days to clean up their mess before inspectors.” [Fox News, Hannity, 7/27/15]

Jon Scott: Iran Has “Almost A Month To Respond To Any Requests For Inspections.” On the July 15 edition of Happening Now, host Jon Scott claimed that Iranian officials “get almost a month to respond to any requests for inspections,” and correspondent Brit Hume speculated that 24 days could be enough time to hide nuclear activity:

SCOTT: The President in that morning announcement that he made from the White House talking about the deal, he said, you know, intrusive inspections unannounced are going to bepart of this, but the language of the deal, as far as we've seen it, suggests that Iran really gets almost a month to respond to any requests for inspections.

HUME: That's right. We're talking here about, of course, what are called, I guess, undeclared sites. There will be a lot of monitoring equipment set up in some of the facilities that we already know about where Iran has agreed to allow that. If, however, we get suspicious about other sites, there's a somewhat cumbersome process as you suggest, Jon, to bring about an inspection there. And it certainly wouldn't be anywhere, anytime. It would be after -- if Iran resisted, it would be submitted to a committee and there would be some kind of vote on it and it would take up to 24 days. Now, people argue that 24 days wouldn't be enough to hide a lot of nuclear activity, but others say no, that'd be plenty of time and basically defeats the whole idea of anytime, anywhere. [Fox News, Happening Now, 7/15/15]

O'Reilly: Iranians Have 24 Days To “Open Up For The Inspectors” And “Anyone Can Sanitize Anything In 24 Days.” On the July 14 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly stated “It takes 24 days for the Iranians to open up for the inspectors, for the United Nations, 24 days. Anybody can sanitize anything in 24 days ... 24 days seems to be a long period of time to me.” [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 7/14/15]