Tehran, Iran, June 1
By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend:
Amid intense talks on Iran's nuclear program and Western demands for IAEA inspection of Iran's military sites and interviews with 23 security/nuclear officials of the Islamic Republic, a senior Iranian politician has made new, attention-grabbing remarks.
Some of the IAEA inspectors to visit Iran's military sites as demanded are sure to be CIA agents, said Ali Akbar Velayati who serves as senior consultant to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and also heads the Expediency Council's Strategic Research Center, Fars news agency reported June 1.
Velayati expressed concern that the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) have backed down from what they promised in the Lausanne agreement.
They had agreed that the Islamic Republic would have 1000 centrifuges operating, but later on they backed down and said only 350 centrifuges should be working and the rest be moved to storage, he said.
He went on to say that limiting Iran's nuclear program and lifting sanctions on the country must be performed simultaneously.
One of the reasons why the Islamic Republic insists on the instant removal of the sanctions is that the opposite side will back down any time it finds the occasion suitable, he noted.
Further commenting on the Western request to interview a list of Iranian nuclear scientists and other officials, Velayati said that the first impression such a demand creates is that the powers intend to interrogate Iranian officials.
The P5+1 new demands come at a time when they are engaged in intense talks with Iran to reach a comprehensive deal on the nuclear program by the end of June.
The agreement is supposed to remove international sanctions on Iran and in return limit the country's nuclear program.
Edited by CN
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