The spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran dismissed the recent remarks by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano that Iran is bound by the Additional protocol to allow the UN nuclear agency’s inspectors access to its military centers as a “subjective” interpretation of the protocol’s terms.
“Mr. Amano has just presented his own personal interpretation of the provisions of the protocol,” Behrouz Kamalvandi told IRIB news on Wednesday. In an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, Amano said a nuclear deal being worked on by Tehran and the major powers would give his experts the right to push for access to Iranian military sites.
“In many other countries from time to time we request access to military sites when we have the reason to, so why not Iran?” he said. “If we have a reason to request access, we will do so, and in principle Iran has to accept it.”
Some points should be noted with regard to Amano’s remarks, Kamalvandi said, explaining, “First, Iran has not accepted the Additional Protocol yet. Second, the protocol has not obliged the signatories to allow the IAEA access to their military sites.”
“Third, based on the terms of the protocol, the IAEA can gain access provided that it presents evidence to justify the required inspection of the site and it should take the signatories’ different concerns, namely the security ones, into consideration.”
