Rouhani: We Prove Accusations Are Baseless by Implementing the Additional Protocol

Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, defended the implementation of the Additional Protocol of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on Saturday, June 13, stating that while Iran will implement this protocol, it will not allow others access to its secrets. According to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA), Rouhani responded to journalists' questions at a press conference marking the second anniversary of the 11th presidential election. In response to a question regarding the implementation of the Additional Protocol, he said: "We will implement the Additional Protocol and prove that the baseless accusations regarding our development of nuclear bombs are unfounded." Rouhani emphasized that the Additional Protocol is not specific to Iran and has been signed by 124 countries, asserting that it is not a bad protocol since many countries have implemented it. He noted that the obligations of the protocol are mutual, and whatever is implemented in other countries will also be implemented in Iran. He stated that there is no term for inspection in the Additional Protocol, and Iran voluntarily implemented it in 2004 and 2005. At that time, there were also baseless discussions about inspections from the Parliament, the House of Scholars, and mosques. Rouhani pointed out that they will not allow the secrets of the country to fall into the hands of others under the pretext of implementing the Additional Protocol, mentioning that Iran is also a member of the Chemical Weapons Convention, where access exists, but they have maintained their national secrets. The new round of negotiations between Iran and the 1+5 group to reach a final agreement began in 2013 with the coming to power of Rouhani's government, and now the three-month deadline that Iran and the six world powers set for drafting and finalizing the comprehensive agreement is rapidly passing, with only seventeen days remaining. One of the main challenges for negotiators in finalizing the comprehensive agreement is the issue of inspections and access to verify Iran's nuclear program, and it is said that the solution to this issue is an agreement on a document titled "Annex to the Additional Protocol." Meanwhile, the issue of access to Iran's military sites based on the Additional Protocol in the NPT has led to a wave of confrontations between the nuclear negotiating team and their opponents in Iran. Aladdin Boroujerdi, the head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, emphasized that even if the Additional Protocol is approved in the Iranian Parliament, visits to military sites and interviews with nuclear scientists will be "excluded" from the implementation of this protocol. However, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated on Saturday, June 6, that "selecting" certain sections of this protocol is "absolutely" not possible. Meanwhile, the Leader of the Islamic Republic has emphasized that Iran will not allow inspections of military sites, but the International Atomic Energy Agency, American and French officials have noted that the final nuclear agreement with Iran must also allow visits to its military sites. President Rouhani also stated that there is "no doubt" that with a potential agreement between Iran and the 5+1 group, "all economic sanctions" will be lifted. Rouhani pointed out the differences between the parties regarding the simultaneity of actions that Iran will be obliged to implement under the final agreement and the lifting of sanctions, emphasizing that Iran insists on this simultaneity. According to Rouhani, based on the agreement reached so far, the gap between signing the final agreement with the 5+1 group and its implementation is a few months, and the parties are still negotiating this duration. The Iranian President also emphasized that "immediately after the agreement," a resolution must be issued in the UN Security Council to lift all previous resolutions regarding "Iran's nuclear issues." He added, "This is the first important step that will be taken after the agreement and may also guarantee the implementation of the agreement. After that, we will discuss how to lift the sanctions." Rouhani stressed that if the other party remains committed to the "frameworks that have been presented," differences can be resolved. He also mentioned that if the path of negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear program is "a bargaining path," the negotiations may take longer. The manner of lifting Western sanctions against Iran is one of the contentious issues in the negotiations between Iran and the 5+1 group. Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Zarif has described Iran's nuclear case as "more complicated" than the negotiations of UN Resolution 598 regarding the end of the Iran-Iraq war due to the Security Council's sanction resolutions. The Security Council has imposed four sanction resolutions against the Iranian government, institutions, and individuals since 2006, and if an agreement is reached between Iran and the 5+1 group for lifting these sanctions, the Security Council must approve a new resolution. The five permanent members of the council, along with Germany, form the 5+1 group that is negotiating with Iran. Rouhani also responded to a question regarding whether the Supreme National Security Council has issued a resolution regarding the media ban on Mohammad Khatami, who has eight years of presidential experience, stating: "It is completely false that the Supreme National Security Council has banned someone from being depicted or reported on." He added that the National Security Council has no resolution in this regard, and if anyone has attributed this to the National Security Council, they have committed a violation and should be punished according to the law. The issue of the media ban on Khatami arose in the winter of 1393. Reports indicated that the Tehran Public and Revolutionary Prosecutor warned against publishing Khatami's image and name, threatening violators with the suspension and closure of media outlets, a decision that was officially announced by the Judiciary Spokesman at the end of Bahman last year. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the Judiciary Spokesman, on February 16, 2015, in response to a journalist's question about the criminality of publishing images and articles related to Khatami, said: "The Supreme National Security Council or the Judiciary has made decisions regarding individuals and considered them as leaders of sedition, which the judiciary can instruct that, for example, media outlets do not have the right to publish images and articles about that person, otherwise there will be consequences."