Kamalvandi: There is no such thing as visiting military facilities

The spokesperson for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran states that there has been 'no discussion' regarding access to military sites in cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but Iran has outlined a 'framework' for 'a series of information and access' in response to the 'requests' of Western countries. According to the Young Journalists Club, affiliated with the Islamic Republic's broadcasting service, Behrouz Kamalvandi said on Friday, May 18, that 'there is no such thing as visiting military facilities.' He added, 'The Westerners, given the ambiguities they have from the past, requested a series of information and access, for which we have also specified a framework.' He emphasized that in the 'step-by-step' cooperation between Iran and the IAEA, 'there has been no discussion' about access to military sites, but he also noted, 'If they have ambiguities... we will try... to resolve them.' Meanwhile, Abbas Araghchi, a senior member of Iran's nuclear negotiation team, on Tuesday evening, May 15, did not rule out the possibility of inspections of Iran's military sites, stating that 'potential' inspections would be 'managed' based on the Additional Protocol of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This comes as Iranian military officials have previously referred to inspections of military sites as a red line and emphasized that they will not allow inspections of these sites. For instance, Hossein Salami, the deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned on Saturday, April 29, that the Islamic Republic would respond to visits to Iran's military sites with 'molten lead.' On Thursday, the United States Senate overwhelmingly approved a proposal allowing Congress to review any potential nuclear agreement with Iran, with a vote of 98 in favor and only one against. The U.S. Congress consists of the Senate and the House of Representatives. Concurrently with the approval of this proposal, 150 members of the House of Representatives expressed their support for the nuclear negotiations of the Obama administration and its allies with Iran. In this context, the U.S. Senate approved the review of the nuclear agreement with Iran, and a letter from 150 representatives in support of nuclear negotiations with Iran was sent. Baidi Nejad stated that the next round of nuclear negotiations will take place from Tuesday to Friday next week in Vienna.