Inspection Of Military Sites ‘Not On Agenda’: Iran

Iran said that it would not discuss allowing inspections of its military sites with six world powers during nuclear negotiations. Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs said that his country would not talk about interviews with its nuclear scientists either.

Seyyed Abbas Araqchi said that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei’s recent statement should be taken as “a decisive and serious guideline” for the talks. The Leader of the Islamic Revolution recently said that that Iran would not allow Western powers to inspect its military sites as a part of the nuclear negotiations.

According to Tasnim News, Khamenei said May 20 that he would not allow foreigners to go to Iran and talk with its scientists. Araqchi clarified that such proposals would not be accepted by Iranian authorities. He emphasized that the other side had been “explicitly” notified of its stance on the issue.

“There are other issues for which we have not yet reached any solutions,” Press TV quoted Araqchi, “Talks will carry on until a solution acceptable for both sides is found.” He said Iran had informed the negotiators that the issue of inspecting military sites and interviewing Iranian nuclear scientists would never be on the agenda.

The deputy foreign minister said that there was still a lot of difference between Iran and negotiating countries. Both parties are still bargaining about the simultaneous lifting of sanctions against Iran. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to meet Saturday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Geneva.

The International Atomic Energy Agency reported Friday that an assessment of allegations against Iran regarding its works on nuclear power had remained stalled. The IAEA said that it was not possible to conclude if Iran’s nuclear material was peaceful in nature if the Islamic republic did not provide complete clarity on its ongoing activities.

Yahoo News reported that the United States had demanded a green signal from the IAEA before lifting sanctions against Iran. State Department spokesman Jeff Rathke asked Iran to provide complete cooperation with the IAEA.