Baku, Azerbaijan, May 22
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iran now has the upper hand in the nuclear talks, although the situation was different 10 years ago, said Allaeddin Boroujerdi, the Head of National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of Iranian Parliament.
"We are not in the weak position today, but 10 years ago we were," Iran's IRNA news agency reported on May 22.
The parliament has adopted a smart approach in the nuclear issue, he said, adding, "The parliament do not want hinder the nuclear negotiation team's work, and do not let the other side do everything it wants."
A number of our nuclear scientists were assassinated. So, we cannot let them to identify individuals and inspect sensitive sites, he noted.
Inspecting sensitive sites is not possible and the national security limits should be safeguarded, he stressed.
The West insists that a ruling by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency on the allegations about past activities, based on full Iranian cooperation with an IAEA probe, is essential to be able to understand Tehran's present nuclear activities.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni emphasized during his speech on May 20 that Iran will never allow foreigners to inspect the country's military centers. He said that the counter side has brought new issues to the negotiations.
"Now they say that Iran should allow them to interview the Islamic Republic's nuclear scientists," Khamenei said, adding this means interrogation.
IAEA demands Iran allow inspection of the Parchin military base close to Tehran. The IAEA visited the site twice in 2005 in a voluntary cooperation by Iran to build trust with the world community. One of the most critical questions posed by IAEA is the probability of high exposition tests at the Parchin.
Iran and P5+1 are negotiating to reach a final nuclear deal by June 30.