Yukiya Amano, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, said that inspection of military sites would be an essential part of any nuclear with Iran to ensure that the Islamic Republic cannot develop nuclear weapons, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported today.

In an interview with AFP and French daily Le Monde, Amano said that if a deal is reached, Iran will face the same inspections from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as any of the 120 countries implementing the additional protocol.

“When we find inconsistency or when we have doubts we can request access to the undeclared location for example, and this could include military sites,” said the Japanese diplomat.

“Some consideration is needed because of the sensitiveness of the site, but the IAEA has the right to request access at all locations, including military ones.”

Since the framework for further negotiations was initially established, top Iranian officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan, and spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi have rejected inspections of military sites as part of a nuclear deal with the West. Foreign minister and lead nuclear negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif described an inspection process so controlled that its effectiveness would be questionable, insisting “we take the inspectors there blindfolded until they get to the specific point they want to see. We would cover the areas we don’t want them to see…this is controlled access.”

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