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# Media's Negligence on Iran Nuclear Deal May Sway Senate Vote
- URL: https://ivn.us/medias-negligence-iran-nuclear-deal-may-sway-senate-vote/
- Published: 2015-08-24T13:16:04.000Z
- Updated: 2026-06-22T19:51:10.000Z
- Author: Carl Wicklander
- Tags: News

A vote on the Iran nuclear deal is approaching and an erroneous report rerun in many media outlets could influence the vote.

Reported last Wednesday as an Associated Press [exclusive](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a9f4e40803924a8ab4c61cb65b2b2bb3/ap-exclusive-un-let-iran-inspect-alleged-nuke-work-site?ref=ivn.us), George Jahn wrote that a secret document revealed that as part of a side deal, Iran will inspect its own facilities at Parchin, a conventional military base formerly used for nuclear activity.

The story was sensational because it created the impression that based on a side deal with the U.S., separate from the P5+1 negotiations, Iranians would inspect their own facility. This included testing samples for evidence of nuclear activity on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with no outside observers.

Many in the media picked up on the story.

The *Boston Herald* [reported](http://www.bostonherald.com/news%5Fopinion/opinion/editorials/2015/08/editorial%5Firan%5Fself%5Finspection%5Fhoax?ref=ivn.us) that the document cited by the AP "proves beyond a doubt that the Obama administration and Secretary of State John Kerry have lied consistently about the nature of the 'side' agreements."

Washington Post blogger Jennifer Rubin [wrote](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2015/08/19/the-latest-iran-revelation-is-utterly-humiliating/?ref=ivn.us), "Obama frankly wanted a document so badly he literally did not care what was in it, or at least what was in the critical side deal. The deal is an utter farce."

The Wall Street Journal, [calling](http://www.wsj.com/articles/irans-secret-self-inspections-1440026399?ref=ivn.us) Parchin the "suspected . . . home of Iran's nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile development," charged that "the country that lied for years about its nuclear weapons program will now be trusted to come clean about those lies."

Then, without mentioning it had been done, the AP edited Jahn's original story and paragraphs detailing the Iranians' methods of alleged self-inspection were removed. A tweet from [Jeffrey Lewis](http://www.miis.edu/academics/faculty/JLewis/node/23027?ref=ivn.us) of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey includes a screenshot of the original story:

https://twitter.com/ArmsControlWonk/status/634096807413481477

The IAEA director general on Thursday called the original AP report a [misrepresentation](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/20/us-iran-nuclear-iaea-parchin-idUSKCN0QP0ID20150820?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&ref=ivn.us) of the agency's verification process. In an annotated version of the [draft](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/bedd428e26924eed95c5ceaeec72d3a4/text-draft-agreement-between-iaea-iran?ref=ivn.us) of the agreement used by the AP, a former [official](http://www.pircenter.org/en/experts/426-rauf-tariq?ref=ivn.us) from the IAEA [reasoned](https://wwwdotatomicreportersdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ap%5F20aug2015%5Farrangement%5Fii%5Fpurported2.pdf?ref=ivn.us) the exclusive a [forgery](http://news.antiwar.com/2015/08/21/former-iaea-official-ap-doc-on-iran-a-crude-forgery/?ref=ivn.us) based on inaccuracies in standard legal language and an unfamiliarity with IAEA procedures.

This is not the first time Jahn's [reporting](https://www.emptywheel.net/2015/08/20/washington-shocked-shocked-that-aps-george-jahn-is-a-tool-for-iran-deal-opponents/?ref=ivn.us) on Iran's nuclear program has been [questioned](http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/nov/29/ap-iran-nuclear-program-graph-explanation?ref=ivn.us). Three years ago, Jahn [published](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ap-exclusive-graph-suggests-iran-working-bomb?ref=ivn.us) a story for the AP about a graph [purportedly](http://www.lobelog.com/fake-ap-graph-exposes-israeli-fraud-and-iaea-credulity/?ref=ivn.us) proving Iran was building nuclear weapons. When the graph was released, there was no date or source for the document. When translated, the Persian writing on it was determined to have said nothing about nuclear weapons.

While the AP Iran self-inspection story in its original form spread to many media channels, reports of the revised version have received [little](http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2015/08/20/its-miller-time-judy-that-is/?ref=ivn.us) [press](http://www.vox.com/2015/8/20/9182185/ap-iran-inspections-parchin?ref=ivn.us). It is unclear whether this report could affect the upcoming Senate vote on the nuclear deal.

Early reports [indicate](http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/aug/20/nancy-pelosi-house-democrats-votes-iran-nuclear-deal?ref=ivn.us) there are enough votes in favor of the agreement. As the vote approaches, however, news consumers may need to be skeptical about reported claims where traditional media recently failed.

*Photo Source: Al Jazeera America*