Iran deal won’t kick in until nuclear inspections, pushing start into 2014.

Iran deal won’t kick in until nuclear inspections, pushing start into 2014.(TOI).

VIENNA (AP) — The UN will probably not begin expanded inspections under last weekend’s Iranian nuclear deal until early next year, officials said Wednesday. Even then, they will be limited to sites the Iranians have confirmed and not those critics suspect may exist secretly. 

Any delay between agreement and implementation is significant because it could strengthen critics both in Iran and the US who have questioned the deal.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has inspected Iran’s program regularly over the past decade, submitting its findings to the IAEA’s 35-nation board and the UN Security Council.

But the agreement sealed in Geneva on Sunday boosts the scope and significance of the agency’s monitoring activities, making it the chief arbiter of whether Iran is keeping its end of the bargain — capping its nuclear program in exchange for some sanctions relief.

Iran maintains its program is only for peaceful purposes although the US and others believe it may have worked on a bomb.

Ben Rhodes, President Barack Obama’s deputy national security adviser, told The Associated Press on Monday that implementation of the Geneva deal will begin in “a matter of days,” adding: “You’ll begin to see much more intrusive inspections of the Iranian program.”

But officials involved in negotiating the deal say there is still no start date. They say the IAEA must verify that Iran is keeping its end of the deal before the clock starts ticking down on the agreement’s six-month time frame and the start of sanctions relief.

That is likely to push things into next year.

The IAEA’s board meets Thursday and Friday, but will not focus on the deal. Diplomats who follow the agency say its head, Yukiya Amano, may not submit a plan on verification to the board for approval until January because of the upcoming holiday period.

Both the officials and the diplomats demanded anonymity because they aren’t authorized to discuss implementation plans.

Quick implementation is crucial. The US and Iran are both facing pressure from skeptics back home, and any delay could give critics a greater platform to rally sentiment against the agreement.