Zarif: The Previous Government Allowed the Agency to Interview Iran's Nuclear Scientists

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's Foreign Minister, stated on Monday, June 4, regarding the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) interviews with Iran's nuclear scientists that "the previous government issued this permission and interviews were conducted with our nuclear scientists by the agency's agents." According to the IRNA news agency, Zarif, who served under President Hassan Rouhani, mentioned that during the previous government, agency officials interviewed Iranian nuclear scientists to supposedly "resolve claims and excuses." Zarif also referred to the interviews with the nuclear scientists as "a side and secondary issue" that, according to him, has no connection to the "core negotiations" of Iran's nuclear talks with the 1+5 group. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, emphasized on Wednesday, April 30, that Iran would not allow inspections of its military sites or interrogations of its nuclear scientists. In response to Khamenei's remarks, Zarif stated that the "approach of all branches of the regime" is certainly to follow the Supreme Leader's directives. Zarif also pointed out that actions taken over the past ten years to supposedly "resolve claims and excuses" included interviews with Iranian nuclear scientists by agency officials, who even visited related sites. Abbas Araghchi, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, reported that during a closed session of the Parliament on Sunday, June 3, the Iranian negotiating team emphasized their opposition to interviews with Iran's nuclear scientists. Meanwhile, Aladdin Boroujerdi, head of the National Security and Foreign Policy Commission of the Iranian Parliament, cited the existence of a "terrorist threat" against these scientists as the reason for Iran's opposition to such interviews. He added in an interview with Al-Alam, affiliated with the Islamic Republic's broadcasting, that "the arrest of those involved in the assassination of several of our nuclear scientists indicated that they are linked to Mossad and the intelligence agency of the Zionist regime." Following the assassination of several Iranian nuclear scientists in recent years, some members of Parliament and principlist figures accused IAEA inspectors of providing information about these scientists to the intelligence services of Western countries. Mahmoud Nabavian, a representative from Tehran, stated in his speech on Sunday that "many of these inspectors are spies and provided the intelligence services with information about our nuclear martyrs." Boroujerdi further emphasized that even if the Additional Protocol of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is ratified by the Iranian Parliament, visits to military sites and interviews with nuclear scientists will be "excluded." According to the Additional Protocol, 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 deemed necessary. In this context, managed inspections of Iran's military sites have been "accepted." A commander of the IRGC stated that inspections of military sites, under any title, are tantamount to espionage. Rouhani stated that we will not sign any agreement that allows access to the country's secrets. The Iranian Defense Minister claimed there is no reason for the IAEA to conduct further inspections of Parchin.