Special to WorldTribune.com

The United States will not press Iran over its past nuclear activities since, through superior intelligence gathering, “we know what they did,” Secretary of State John Kerry said on June 16.

Previously, the U.S. had insisted Iran answer a set of questions from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about its past nuclear weapons research and tied some sanctions relief to resolving those questions.

Kerry now says Washington is prepared to be flexible on the issue. [Earlier this month CIA Director John Brennan made a secret visit to Israel during which he presented a similar argument that the issue of inspections need not hold up a nuclear agreement with Iran, the Jerusalem Post reported.]

“We’re not fixated on Iran specifically accounting for what they did at one point in time or another,” he said. “We know what they did. We have no doubt. We have absolute knowledge with respect to the certain military activities they were engaged in.

“What we’re concerned about is going forward. It’s critical to us to know that going forward, those activities have been stopped, and that we can account for that in a legitimate way.”

[Related: America’s crucial credibility abroad declines with the loss of trust — and respect, June 3]

The U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China have set a June 30 deadline to conclude a nuclear deal with Iran. A report out of Iran has said the U.S. is willing to give up inspections of military bases and inspect only declared nuclear sites. The IAEA and European Union would not agree to that proposal and some officials now say the talks are at an impasse and may run into July.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it seems that the closer the deadline gets, the more concessions the U.S. is willing to make.

A report last week detailed CIA director John Brennan’s visit to Israel in which he allegedly told officials that a final nuclear deal with Iran does not have to include a commitment by Teheran to provide access to military bases, or Iranian consent to interview its scientists.

“The Iranian retreat from its agreement to allow a symbolic visit in military sites and the questioning of scientists and military personnel, in exchange for closing the Possible Military Dimensions case [in the IAEA] places President Obama in a problematic situation, and the talks at an impasse, since alongside the Iranian rejection, the EU and the IAEA director-general [Yukiya Amano] refuse to shut the PMD case,” the report said.

“Under these circumstances, it seems the head of the CIA, John Brennan, was sent to Israel to convince it – and through it, the European Union – that intelligence monitoring of every suspected instance of a military dimension in the Iranian nuclear program is a sufficient solution, and that the [IAEA’s] PMD investigation can be left aside.”

A United Nations panel monitoring Iran sanctions said the U.S. may be downplaying Iranian violations so as not to disrupt the nuclear negotiations. A number of reports had said Iran was shipping weapons abroad in violation of a UN embargo.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power on June 16 rejected the UN accusation.

“Absolutely not,” Power said at a congressional hearing. “There’s no pulling of our punches, even during these negotiations.”

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