State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf has downplayed an official Iranian news agency report claiming that no inspections for military sites will be allowed under the pending nuclear deal. Iran’s supreme leader also reportedly closed the door on interviews with nuclear scientists.
“Permission for doing such things will absolutely not be available and the enemies should know that the Iranian nation and the government will at no case retreat in confrontation with their totalitarian and bullying demands,” Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei was quoted as telling a graduation ceremony for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps on Wednesday, according to the Islamic Republic News Agency.
When a reporter brought up the claim during Wednesday’s State Department briefing, Harf interrupted the question, saying it came from “one of the ayatollahs, the supreme leader. There are many in Iran.”
She went on to say that State won’t respond to “every comment from the supreme leader.”
“We and Iran have agreed that we will undertake a process to address possible military dimensions and part of that includes access. Under the additional protocol, for example, which Iran will implement and has said they will implement as part of this deal, the [International Atomic Energy Agency] does get access,” she said. “But if we don’t get the assurances we need on the access to possible military dimension-related sites or activities, that’s going to be a problem for us.”
