Kamali: There is no obligation for access to military sites in the Additional Protocol

The spokesperson of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Behrouz Kamalvandi, responded to the statements of the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) by stating that the Additional Protocol to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) does not foresee a specific obligation for access to military sites of countries. According to the Islamic Republic News Agency, on Wednesday, May 13, Kamalvandi also mentioned that the protocol provides for 'access to adjacent locations or the use of other methods acceptable to both parties.' Yukiya Amano, the IAEA Director General, emphasized in an interview with the Associated Press the right to inspect Iran's military facilities 'based on the Additional Protocol,' stating that if a final nuclear agreement is signed between Iran and the P5+1 group, the path for inspectors to visit some Iranian military installations would be facilitated. In response to Amano's statements, Kamalvandi said that the IAEA Director General's interpretation of the Additional Protocol is 'his own broad interpretation.' He added, 'Mr. Amano has not specified any obligation for Iran, but has presented his interpretation of the Additional Protocol, which we have considerations about.' He also stated on Friday, May 8, that there has been 'no discussion' about access to military sites in cooperation with the IAEA, but Iran has defined a 'framework' for 'a series of information and access' in response to the 'requests' of Western countries. According to the Additional Protocol of the NPT, which Iran accepted to implement voluntarily in the Lausanne nuclear agreement, IAEA inspectors are allowed to conduct unannounced inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities whenever they deem necessary. However, the spokesperson of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran stated that the Islamic Republic has not yet ratified or 'implemented' the Additional Protocol. According to Kamalvandi, there is 'no specific obligation' for signatory countries regarding access to military sites in 'any article' of this protocol. He emphasized, 'Access to the locations of interest to the Agency, as stated in paragraph (c) of Article 5 of the protocol, requires the provision of evidence and documents and also the Agency's consideration of various member states' considerations, including security considerations.' Kamalvandi also mentioned that if a member state has any constraints for any reason, providing access to adjacent locations or using other methods acceptable to both parties is provided for in the Additional Protocol. In similar statements, Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, also stated on Tuesday, May 7, that 'inspectors can sample from areas surrounding non-nuclear centers based on the Additional Protocol.' Meanwhile, Abbas Araqchi, a senior member of the Iranian nuclear negotiating team, on Tuesday evening, May 15, while not ruling out the possibility of inspections of Iran's military sites, stated that 'potential' inspections would be 'managed' based on the Additional Protocol of the NPT. Araqchi referred to 'managed access' to Iran's military sites as 'environmental sampling.' The statements of these Iranian officials come as Iranian military officials previously described inspections of military sites as a red line and emphasized that they would not allow inspections of these sites. For instance, Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned sharply on Saturday, April 18, that the Islamic Republic would respond to visits to Iran's military sites 'with hot lead.' The ongoing discussion about visits to Iran's military sites comes as Abbas Araqchi, a senior member of the Iranian negotiating team, announced on Tuesday that an agreement had been reached on 'a relatively significant portion' of the final agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group.