Ghasemi: Inspections of Iran's Military Sites are an Unfulfilled Dream

Following the announcement that the U.S. President is attempting to inspect 'suspicious' military sites in Iran, the spokesperson of Iran's Foreign Ministry described it as an 'unfulfilled dream' and 'a joke.' On July 27, the Associated Press reported that senior U.S. officials stated that Donald Trump considers the nuclear agreement with Iran to have 'serious flaws,' with the lack of inspections of Iran's military facilities being one of these 'flaws.' According to the report, if these 'serious flaws' are not resolved quickly, Trump may consider the option of withdrawing the U.S. from the JCPOA. On August 7, during a press conference, Bahram Ghasemi was asked about U.S. media reports quoting White House officials about proposing inspections of Iran's military sites, and the potential labeling of Iran as a violator of the JCPOA if it refuses. Ghasemi responded, 'We will continue the previous process seriously, and this is one of those dreams that I think is unfulfilled and wishes that will not come true.' He added, 'This is a joke, and a humorist has written something on this matter.' Ghasemi emphasized, 'Iran will never return to negotiations regarding the JCPOA and nuclear issues, and everything necessary was achieved in previous negotiations.' Previously, on Saturday, Ali Akbar Velayati, international affairs advisor to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, also described reports about Trump's attempts for IAEA inspections of 'suspicious' military sites in Iran as 'nonsense and exaggeration,' stating, 'No way will Americans be allowed to visit Iran's military sites.' Velayati stressed that these sites are 'part of the security perimeter' of the Islamic Republic of Iran and 'they will neither be allowed to do such a thing nor dare to violate Iran's security perimeter.' Inspections of the Parchin military facility to find answers regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear file, known as PMD, were one of the contentious issues in Iran's negotiations with the P5+1. The Trump administration considers the activities of the Revolutionary Guards and Iran's nuclear and missile programs a threat to the stability of the Middle East and against the security of its allies in the region. Iran describes these concerns as baseless. Trump has repeatedly called the Vienna nuclear agreement one of the worst deals in history, stating that if it were solely up to him, he would have announced Iran's non-compliance with the JCPOA 180 days ago.