Crescent International
Islamic Republic's nuclear negotiators have made clear that there will be no discussion about visits to military sites or interviews with Iranian nuclear scientists. Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Seyyed Abbas Araqchi was quoted by IRNA that this message has been communicated to the other side.
Tehran,
Friday May 29, 2015, 15:09 DST
Seyyed Abbas Araqchi, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Seyyed Abbas Araqchi has reaffirmed that inspections of Iran’s military sites and interviews with Iranian nuclear scientists will not be on the agenda of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear talks with the P5+1 states. He said the recent statements by the Rahbar, Imam Seyyed Ali Khamenei are “a decisive and serious guideline”. In an address to officials in Tehran on May 20, the Rahbar that the other side is raising new issues including inspection of military sites and interviews with nuclear scientists.
The Rahbar categorized these interviews as “interrogations” and said the Islamic Republic will not allow “foreigners” to interview Iranian scientists in the nuclear domain and “other sensitive majors.” Araqchi emphasized, “We have informed the opposite [negotiating] side that this [the issue of inspections and interviews] will never be on the agenda” of the negotiations, according to IRNA that quoted him. Chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Yukiya Amano has on several occasions raised the issue of visits to military sites.
In an interview published in the French news agency, Agence France Presse (AFP) and Le Monde on May 27, he said if in the course of inspections of Iran’s nuclear sites, the agency felt inspection of military sites was necessary, then a request would be made. Amano had raised the same issue earlier as well. Some media outlets have been speculating that Iran would agree to such inspections. They even quote Araqchi on the issue. His statement today in IRNA lays to rest such speculation.
During his visit to Athens on May 28, Iran’s Foreign Minister Dr Mohammad Javad Zarif called on his negotiating partners to “keep their feet in reality and not in illusions.” He said there will either be an agreement in which both sides win or there will be no agreement and nobody would win. Elaborating on the inspections question, Araqchi said that alternative solutions were now being discussed that would alleviate the concerns of the P5+1. The group comprises the US, Russia, Britain, France, China (the five permanent members) plus Germany.
A framework agreement was signed on April 2 that established the guidelines under which negotiations for a final agreement would be worked out. “We will implement them [details of the agreement] should we reach a conclusion. Otherwise, negotiations will continue until we reach an agreed solution,” Araqchi said.
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