Qatar Awaits Iran Reply on IAEA Inspectors Offer

Qatar is waiting for Tehran's answer to a new proposal built around the return of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors to Iran's nuclear sites. American and Israeli officials expect a bombing campaign against Iran if the offer falls through.

Under the proposal, Iran would make a modest nuclear concession and receive sanctions relief and possibly access to frozen funds, two regional diplomats told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday. They said Tehran could reply as early as Thursday.

On October 28, Axios reported that the Qatar-led offer would give IAEA inspectors access to Iranian nuclear sites. Tehran would receive limited sanctions relief and access to frozen funds in return. As JFeed reported, American and Israeli officials expect a bombing campaign of about a week after the US midterm elections if the offer collapses.

"The United States will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the midterm elections," said Anna Kelly, the White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary. She added that "Iran is in very bad condition, both economically and militarily, and the blockade will remain in full force and effect, with oil flowing in record numbers of barrels through the Hormuz Strait."

On Tuesday, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi addressed members of the UN Security Council. He told them that only inspectors on the ground could show accurately where Iran's nuclear program now stands.

"I invite Iran to work with the IAEA without any further delay to clarify outstanding safeguards questions and to give the IAEA the information and access the agency requires, so that it can verify all relevant facilities and material, as is Iran's legal obligation," Grossi said.

On October 27, an unverified Open Source Intel flash saying that Iran had barred IAEA inspectors from nuclear facilities damaged in recent attacks, Isfahan among them. The agency responded that nothing can replace physical access.

An inspectors-for-funds arrangement has been under discussion for weeks. On October 22, the Wall Street Journal reported that mediators were considering releasing part of Iran's frozen funds abroad, with interest, in return for nuclear concessions. Two days earlier, the Arabic-language newspaper Al-Araby Al-Jadeed described a framework put forward by Pakistan and Qatar. It would transfer $6 billion in interest from frozen Iranian funds held in Qatari banks in exchange for an Iranian step on nuclear oversight.

Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Friday, October 30. An official briefed on the talks told Reuters the visit was coordinated with Washington. A senior Iranian official had earlier called Qatar's draft proposals unacceptable.