Iraqchi: Managed Access to Military Sites Does Not Mean Inspections

Despite widespread opposition and the emphasis of Ayatollah Khamenei that he will not allow inspections of Iran's military sites, a senior member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team states that 'managed access' to these sites 'does not mean visits or inspections.' According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, Abbas Iraqchi, a senior member of the Iranian negotiation team, emphasized on Thursday, June 14, that if Iran accepts the Additional Protocol to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), part of the final agreement with the P5+1 group will be the acceptance of 'managed access.' Mr. Iraqchi stressed that Iran does not 'accept inspections and visits' of 'non-nuclear' military or civilian sites, adding: 'What is proposed under the Additional Protocol is the issue of managed access to these sites.' He further stated: 'Managed access has a specific procedure... there are laws and limitations... This does not mean visits or inspections for us.' The senior member of the Iranian negotiation team reiterated: 'If an agreement is reached that the Additional Protocol is implemented, the access provided under the Additional Protocol will be managed access as part of the final agreement.' Members of the Iranian negotiation team had previously mentioned the possibility of 'managed access' to Iran's military sites, stating that the term 'access' refers not to inspections but to 'environmental sampling.' For instance, Abbas Iraqchi had stated on the evening of Tuesday, June 4, that based on the Additional Protocol, inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) would be taken blindfolded to military sites and a cloth would be placed over sensitive facilities to hide them from view. However, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Republic, has ruled out interviews with Iranian nuclear scientists and inspections of Iran's military sites, while Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, has deemed inspections of these sites 'espionage under any title.' Meanwhile, Yukiya Amano, the Director General of the IAEA, Laurent Fabius, the French Foreign Minister, and several American officials have emphasized that acceptance of visits to Iran's military sites must be part of the final agreement regarding Iran's nuclear program. The meeting of deputy foreign ministers of Iran and the P5+1 group to draft the final agreement has begun. Mr. Iraqchi reported significant progress in drafting the final agreement text with the P5+1, but also stated that 'we still have a difficult and hard task ahead.' He noted that the progress regarding the drafting of the appendices to the final agreement has not been 'satisfactory' and reported that in the sixth round of negotiations for drafting the final agreement, which began on Thursday, 'nuclear issues and sanctions' are being pursued. The Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister emphasized: 'We hope to complete this hard and complex task by the deadline or even earlier.' According to IRNA, the general meeting of the deputy foreign ministers of Iran and the P5+1 to 'evaluate the process' of drafting the final agreement began on Thursday morning, chaired by Abbas Iraqchi and Helga Schmid in Vienna. The sixth round of negotiations for drafting the final agreement regarding Iran's nuclear program is taking place while, according to the Lausanne understanding, the parties have less than a month to reach a final agreement.