Setting up a potential showdown with Iran, the head of the UN atomic agency said today that a nuclear agreement being worked on by Tehran and six world powers would give his experts the right to push for access to Iranian military sites.
International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano spoke as negotiators opened a new round of talks aimed at reaching a deal by the end of June.
Iran tentatively agreed last month to open its atomic activities to greater scrutiny as part of the deal, which would require it to commit to curbing nuclear activities that could be used to make weapons in exchange for relief from international sanctions.
But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has since set conditions, declaring military sites off limits "to foreigners ... Under the pretext of inspections." Brig. Gen. Hossein Salami of the Revolutionary Guards warns that anyone setting foot into an Iranian military facility will be met with "hot lead" meaning bullets.
In an Associated Press interview today, Amano said Iran specifically agreed to implement what's known as the agency's "Additional Protocol" when it agreed to the outlines of the deal now being worked on.
The protocol would allow the Vienna-based agency's inspectors much more access than they have now to follow up on suspicions of undeclared Iranian nuclear activities or equipment.
The United States and Russia are among the more than 100 countries implementing additional protocols, although the U.S. and some others have provisions designed to ensure that inspections do not compromise national security, something Iran also demands. Still, Amano said the same rules will apply to Iran as to the others that have signed on.
