Shamkhani: I am the first on the list of Western interview requests

Ali Shamkhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, confirmed reports about the Western request for interviews with 23 "officials and experts" of Iran's nuclear program. Meanwhile, a member of the Iranian Parliament's presiding board mentioned that Ali Shamkhani, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization Fereydoun Abbasi, and former Minister of Science Kamran Daneshjoo are on the "Americans'" list for "interrogation." Mehrdad Bazrpash stated that the "Americans have presented a list of military commanders of the country for interrogation." Shamkhani described the order of names in this 23-person list as "ridiculous" and stated that he is the first person on this list. He also mentioned that it is "unclear" what questions the other side has for these 23 individuals. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei emphasized that he will not allow interviews with nuclear scientists or inspections of Iran's military sites. Shamkhani also noted that information about Iran's nuclear scientists has reached the so-called "enemy" due to the "possibility of dialogue between agency experts and some nuclear specialists in the country," resulting in the deaths of three of these scientists. He added, "At one point, they interviewed some individuals, but they never wrote that they were satisfied with the answers." After the assassination of several Iranian "nuclear scientists" in recent years, some principlist figures claimed that information about these scientists was provided to Western intelligence services through their interviews. For instance, Rasoul Sanaei Rad, the political deputy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated that the martyrdom of our nuclear scientists was also due to these interviews conducted under the guise of safeguards, which later provided information to terrorists. Meanwhile, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign minister in Hassan Rouhani's government, stated that during the previous Iranian administration, agency officials interviewed Iranian nuclear scientists to "resolve claims and excuses." However, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's office called Zarif's statements "utterly false." In response to this statement, the Iranian Foreign Ministry warned that it would pursue the matter legally, and some Iranian media also published reports confirming Zarif's claims. For instance, the newspaper Shargh referenced statements from Ali Larijani, Saeed Jalili, and Ali-Asghar Soltaniyeh, former heads and members of Iran's nuclear negotiating team, which addressed the issue of interviewing Iranian nuclear researchers. The newspaper also reported that the International Atomic Energy Agency emphasized interviews with "individuals" in its reports and stated that "Iran has provided sufficient access to individuals." According to this report, the IAEA also emphasized in its March report that Iran "has provided the agency access to the requested individuals." In this context, the Tehran Friday Prayer Leader stated that allowing inspections of military sites is a license for attack, while Abbas Araghchi noted that the issue of access to scientists and military sites is not on the agenda. Ahmadinejad's office called Zarif's statements about interviews with nuclear scientists false, while Zarif stated that the previous government allowed the agency to interview Iranian nuclear scientists.