Access to Iran’s Military Sites Religiously Banned: Cleric
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A senior Iranian cleric dismissed the West’s call for access to the country’s military sites under a nuclear deal with Tehran, saying the religious jurisprudence bars any scheme that would result in the enemy’s control over a Muslim country.
Delivering a speech to worshippers in Tehran on Friday, Ayatollah Kazem Seddiqi underscored that the West’s inspection of Iran’s military sites would go counter to commandments of Quran, according to which religious experts have said any plan entailing enemy’s upper hand vis-à-vis the country is prohibited.
Ayatollah Kazem Seddiqi also pointed to the red lines defined by Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, whom he described as the religious leader with the final say in Iran.
Earlier on April 9, Ayatollah Khamenei categorically rejected foreign access to the country's "security and defensive" sectors under the pretext of nuclear monitoring.
Later on May 20, the Leader also ruled out any request for interviews with Iranian nuclear scientists, describing it as an instance of "interrogation".
"I would not let foreigners come (here) and talk to the Iranian nation's dear scientists..., who have expanded this wide knowledge to this stage," the Leader stressed.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are in talks to hammer out a lasting accord that would end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran's peaceful nuclear program.
On April 2, the two sides reached a framework nuclear agreement in Lausanne, Switzerland, with both sides committed to push for a final deal until the end of June.
Diplomats from the two sides are now drafting the text of the final accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).