Baku, Azerbaijan, June 6
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
While some Iranian MPs argue that the Islamic Republic can accept implementing Additional Protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if access to military sites is excluded, the country's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said that selective implementation of the protocol is impossible.
"We can not implement only some parts of the Additional Protocol and leave the other parts unfulfilled," Zarif said, Iran's Etemaad newspaper reported June 16.
"If you have this right, the counter parties also will have right for similar practices," the Iranian FM asserted.
Iran is not the only country which has concerns over disclosure of its security and industrial secrets, Zarif said, adding industrial secrets are part of the nuclear program of many countries, meanwhile they are adopting the Additional Protocol.
The Additional Protocol allows unannounced inspections outside of declared nuclear sites and it is seen as a vital tool at the IAEA's disposal to make sure that a country does not have any hidden nuclear work.
Zarif further said that implementing the Additional Protocol as part of a final nuclear agreement with the P5+1 was an accepted principle from the beginning of the nuclear talks.
The issue of access to military sites was a disputed topic among Iranian officials in recent weeks.
While the country's nuclear negotiators have expressed Iran's readiness for limited access to the sites, conservatives seriously oppose that.
Recently, deputy chief of staff, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri said that Iran will not allow even restricted outside access to its military sites under any nuclear accord with six powers.
Any kind of inspection of Iran's military sites, including managed and restricted access, is unacceptable, Jazayeri underlined.
Meanwhile Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said June 4 that the Islamic Republic would allow managed access to its military sites only within the framework of the Additional Protocol.
Access for UN nuclear inspectors to Iranian military sites and the pace and timing of sanctions relief for Tehran are among several major disputes that Iran and the P5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) need to resolve before the self-imposed June 30 deadline for a final deal.
Iran and the P5+1 reached a mutual understanding on Tehran's nuclear program in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2.
Follow the author on Twitter: @UmidNiayesh