US Demand for Military Inspections Dismissed

Defense Minister Amir Hatami dismissed the recent assertions by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, that the International Atomic Energy Agency needs to inspect Iranian military sites to ensure Tehran is complying with the 2015 nuclear deal.

In a talk with ICANA on Tuesday, the veteran commander said, "[Haley] is not in a position to make such demands. Such claims are not even worthy of consideration."

Haley visited the UN nuclear watchdog's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, last Wednesday to push her case for IAEA access to Iranian military sites, claiming that the deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, allows the agency to inspect  suspicious military sites.

" JCPOA made no distinction between military and non-military sites," she contended.

The visit is seen as part of efforts by US President Donald Trump to scuttle the deal, mostly by reviving allegations of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program.

In December 2015, the IAEA's governing board voted overwhelmingly, months after JCPOA was signed, in favor of a resolution regarding "the past and present outstanding issues of Iran's nuclear program" that effectively closed the PMD case.

In his final assessment, the agency said, "It has not found any credible indications of the diversion of nuclear material in connection with the possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program," IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said at the time.

  Violation of Text, Spirit of Deal

Lawmaker Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, the spokesman of Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, refuted Haley's claims that military inspections are possible under JCPOA, adding that such sites are never to be inspected.

"We will by no means allow our military sites to be inspected. This is against the spirit and text of JCPOA," he said.

Hosseini noted that the Foreign Ministry has come up with sufficient evidence to reject Haley's claims, adding that there is nothing more to add to this.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has written letters to Amano and European Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini warning that Haley's remarks were "not in conformity with several provisions of JCPOA."

"Regrettably, this visit, with the stated purpose to 'press the agency', is widely perceived by the international community as a manifest and blatant attempt to put pressure on the agency and adversely affect the professional and impartial nature of the work of the IAEA," the letter read.