The Iran Deal just hit a huge snag

One of the biggest mysteries of the Iran nuclear deal has been solved — but the answer may complicate the efforts of the US and its allies to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

On the same day that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed between Iran and a US-led group of six countries, Iran reached a "roadmap" agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that would resolve the agency's longstanding concerns over Tehran's nuclear-weaponization program.

Under the agreement, the IAEA would investigate Iran's past weaponization work and any possible continuation of those activities prior to the full implementation of the JCPOA. But the details beyond that were murky.

The IAEA's probe into the military dimensions of the program is crucial to establishing an inspection baseline for Iran's nuclear program. The IAEA needs to be able to identify key personnel, facilities, supply chains, and past activities to establish exactly how far along Iran's weaponization activities really are and to recognize whether those activities have been restarted.

But it was immediately unclear what the consequences would be if Iran obstructed the "roadmap" investigation, which concluded in mid-October. Intransigence remains a valid concern, as Iran had ignored nearly a decade's worth of IAEA queries into its weaponization program.

Iranian diplomats repeatedly claimed that the IAEA "roadmap" had no bearing on the implementation of the larger treaty. And the US repeatedly claimed otherwise:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-iran-deal-just-hit-a-huge-snag-2015-10