The head of Iran’s parliamentary National security and Foreign Policy Commission, Alaeddin Boroujerdi has declared that Iran's military sites have nothing to do with the nuclear issues, and any permission to visit the military centers is up to the Supreme National Security Council, SNSC.
“Our military centers have their own special structure and have nothing to do with the nuclear matters”, Boroujerdi maintained.
Previously, Islamic Republic’s officials had repeatedly insisted that Tehran would not allow the International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors to visit Iran’s military sites, under any conditions. There had been hints by U.S. officials that Iranian military sites should be inspected to make sure Tehran is not breaking the nuclear deal.
In an interview with Fars, a news agency close to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, IRGC, Boroujerdi accused the United States of setting the scene for repealing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA or Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers.
“The reason behind these efforts is the fact that the U.S. [feels to be] the losing side in the nuclear deal, because of its failure to communicate with Tehran for JCPOA’s implementation,” the senior MP remarked.
Boroujerdi’s comments are apparently a response to the comments recently made by the U.S. permanent representative to the United Nations Nikki Haley.
The U.S. Ambassador on August 25 called on the UN's nuclear watchdog to seek access to Iranian military sites to ensure that they are not concealing activities banned by the 2015 nuclear deal.
"I have good confidence in the [International Atomic Energy Agency], but they are dealing with a country that has a clear history of lying and pursuing covert nuclear programs," Haley told a news conference in New York after returning from a visit to the agency’s headquarters in Vienna.
"We are encouraging the IAEA to use all the authority they have and to pursue every angle possible" to verify Tehran’s compliance with the nuclear deal, she said.
The Islamic republic protested Haley’s visit to the IAEA’s headquarters and called it a sign of “deviation from the spirit of JCPOA”.
Meanwhile, Iranian officials once again emphasized that inspecting the Islamic Republic’s military sites would never be permitted.
However, Boroujerdi’s latest comments can be an indication that Iran is worried by the possibility of leaking information on its military bases through IAEA inspections.
“There’s a possibility that foreign individuals seek our non-nuclear military information and capabilities, disguising themselves as IAEA inspectors”, Boroujerdi complained.
However, the UN watchdog agency has previously concluded that Iran had secretly conducted research on a nuclear warhead at one of its military sites before 2009, a charge which Tehran denied.
Boroujerdi also reiterated Iran's denunciation of nuclear weapons, saying it is the only country that in addition to being a member of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), "enjoys the robust support of the fatwa" issued by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ali Khamenei against nuclear weapons.
While Boroujerdi has for the first time mentioned the possibility of permitting IAEA’s inspection of Iranian military sites through decisions made by Islamic republic’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), his colleague, Hossein Naqavi Hosseini has repeated that Tehran would never accept requests for inspecting Iran’s military sites.
"Under no circumstances will we submit to the inspection of our military centers and we cannot allow foreigners to visit our military centers," said Naqavi Hosseini who is the spokesman for parliament’s Commission on National Security and Foreign Policy.
"If they have a discussion or a subject for discussion, they can discuss it with our diplomats, but they must know that Iran's military centers are secret and their doors will always be closed to strangers", Iran’s English Speaking Television channel, Press TV cited Naqavi Hosseini as saying.