Ahmadinejad Says He Hasn’t Violated Any International Obligations

Here’s a perfect example of why President Obama didn’t want to be locked into saying that Iran’s heretofore-undisclosed nuclear facility has violated international law. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad just delivered this statement to the press in Manhattan:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country has complied with rules of the U.N. nuclear agency which require that it is informed of any new enrichment facility six months before it becomes operational.

On the narrow point, Ahmadinejad may be right. That’s why Obama leaned on Iran’s continued nondisclosure of the facility, for years, rather than specific violations. There will be an IAEA investigation of the Qom facility; and it’ll be investigating the question of whether Iran is indeed in violation.