US State Department clarifies description of Parchin as nuclear site/ Obama to speak with Jewish groups on Iran deal/ Iranian boy, 14, ‘marries’ 10-year-old girl

US State Department clarifies description of Parchin as nuclear site
MICHAEL WILNER/J.Post/08/28/2015/NEW YORK – Iran’s military complex at Parchin formerly served as a nuclear site, but no longer does, State Department spokesman John Kirby told The Jerusalem Post on Friday. Kirby was clarifying a comment he made on Thursday afternoon in a briefing with reporters, in which he characterized the controversial facility as “a conventional military site, not a nuclear site.” The United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency suspects that Parchin hosted Iran’s experimentation with nuclear weapons technology in the mid-2000s. The agency seeks access to the site in order to resolve its investigation into that past work. That access – outlined in a road-map agreed upon by the IAEA and Iran last month – is the first step toward implementation of the larger nuclear deal reached with world powers on July 14.But satellite imagery suggests Iran has begun construction on the site since early summer, raising questions as the Tehran’s designs for the site. The IAEA has noted this construction in its internal reports on their investigation, but Iran says it is within its rights to build at its conventional military facilities. Asked whether Iran is indeed within its rights to build at the facility, or if the site has been considered nuclear in nature, Kirby replied: “Both are true.” “What matters about Parchin is that it was a nuclear site,” Kirby said. “And that is why the IAEA needs access to it, to determine the scope of Iranian PMD,” referring to the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear work. “Today, it is a conventional military facility,” he continued. “Construction on it – if true – may have nothing to do with the IAEA’s mission of determining PMD.”

Iranian boy, 14, ‘marries’ 10-year-old girl
By Staff writer | Al Arabiya News/Friday, 28 August 2015/Photos showing a 14-year-old boy getting married to his 10-year-old partner in Iran have gone viral on social media. The couple, who are under the legal marriage age in Iran, reportedly got married on Aug. 14, after having obtained permission from authorities. The boy wore a grey suit while his bride was in a traditional white wedding dress. The pair were seen with their families in some of the pictures. In the Islamic Republic, girls can marry as young as 13 provided they have the permission of their father. Boys can marry from the age of 15. Despite being legally dubious, as many as 42,000 children aged between 10 and 14 married in 2010, according to Iranian news website Tabnak.

Obama to speak with Jewish groups on Iran deal
By Associated Press/Washington/Friday, 28 August 2015/U.S. President Barack Obama is using a Friday webcast to try to allay concerns from Jewish communities about the nuclear agreement with Iran. Obama will deliver remarks about the agreement and take questions from participants. The webcast is being organized by two major Jewish organizations that have held similar events with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. The Israeli government adamantly opposes the deal signed by the U.S., Iran and five world powers. The agreement seeks to keep Iran from building a nuclear bomb in exchange for international sanctions relief. Critics say the agreement makes too many concessions and could eventually allow for a nuclear-armed Iran. The president counters that the agreement contains the most comprehensive inspection and verification regime ever negotiated to monitor a nuclear program.