Russia: Iran Not Obliged to Allow Military Inspections

Date: 22 October 2017 - 21:48

News ID: ۴۵۵۹۳

MOSCOW (Dispatches) -- A senior Russian diplomat on Sunday dismissed calls for an extension of UN inspections into Iran’s military sites, saying the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has no authority to carry out such a task.
"I would like to say absolutely clear and directly that acquiring some false topicality on the theme of the IAEA work on Section T of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action over the Iran nuclear program has no topicality for us although it is a talking point now,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.
Section T of the JCPOA bans any development activity by Iran on nuclear weapons technology and restricts dual-use data-x-items that could be used to research warhead design. Iran has repeatedly said that it does not possess or seek nuclear arms.
The high-ranking Russian diplomat said IAEA could not be tasked with carrying out inspections of Iran’s military sites, "because Section T highlights the issues of the agency’s competence."
However, he added that some P5+1 parties prefer to "call black white and vice versa...We cannot get them to understand this evident logic and obvious truth.”
"Since they are insisting, we say if you cannot do without discussions on the theme, it should be raised at the Joint Commission when the next session is convened," Ryabkov noted.
The Russian deputy foreign minister expressed his country’s readiness to discuss the issue with other signatories to the JCPOA and announce Moscow’s stance.
Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, France, Britain, Russia and China – plus Germany signed the nuclear agreement on July 14, 2015 and started implementing it on January 16, 2016.
Under the JCPOA, Iran undertook to put limitations on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against Tehran.
The JCPOA is regarded as the most significant diplomatic success for the 28-nation bloc in several decades.
Speaking at an international nonproliferation conference in Moscow on Friday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected the need for further inspection of Iran’s nuclear sites beyond the JCPOA requirements, noting that the IAEA "performs regular checks and confirms their (Iran’s) strict fulfillment of obligations.”
U.S. President Donald Trump delivered an anti-Iran speech on October 13, in which he said he would not be certifying Iran’s compliance with the terms of the JCPOA under a domestic American law.
While Trump did not pull Washington out of the JCPOA, he gave the U.S. Congress 60 days to decide whether to reimpose economic sanctions against Tehran that were lifted under the pact. Reimposing sanctions would put the U.S. at odds with other signatories to the accord and the European Union.
The U.S. president insists that the nuclear deal should be renegotiated, or else it may face the prospect of total collapse.
This is while all other signatories, including Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China have stressed their full commitment to the JCPOA.
Iran has vehemently rejected the possibility of renegotiation, warning that any hostile action against the JCPOA will jeopardize regional and global peace and security.