Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan[/caption]TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan lashed out at the International Atomic Energy Agency for raising illogical demands for visiting Parchin military site in Iran which has been several times inspected by the IAEA in the past.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran carries out its activities under the supervision of the IAEA to increase transparency and the Agency's inspectors are present in all our centers and therefore Iran is not running any operation unseen by the Agency," Dehqan said in a televised interview with the state-run TV on Sunday night.
Noting that the UN nuclear watchdog has several times visited Parchin, he said the last time the IAEA inspectors visited the military site, the Iranians urged them to raise any questions they want and they (the IAEA) said Parchin's case was closed.
"We dont see any reason for their presence in Parchin again but now we see that the Agency makes some illogical moves under the pressures of Israel and our enemies, and therefore, what they say has no basis," Dehqan said.
In a press conference on Saturday, Dehqan was asked if Tehran has permitted the IAEA to visit its military site in Parchin, near Tehran, and he said, "The Agency has visited Parchin several times and taken samples; therefore, this is not an issue for discussions now."
Dehqan also stressed that Iran would never provide anyone with "information about its defense scientists", and added, "This issue is not acceptable to us."
The IAEA inspectors have at least two times visited Parchin military site in the past and found no evidence of nuclear activities in it.
Former Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Fereidoun Abbasi said in March 2013 that Tehran would allow the IAEA to visit its non-nuclear military site in Parchin again only if the UN nuclear watchdog convinces it of the necessity of such a visit by presenting relevant documents.
"As I have said before, Parchin isn't a nuclear site and no nuclear activity is carried out in there," and if the IAEA believes that it should visit this site, it "should present its documents about nuclear activity in this site so that we can discuss the issue with our military officials," Abbasi told reporters in Tehran at the time.
Also in April, 2013, Abbasi had said that the UN nuclear watchdog should explain why it intends to send its inspectors to the Parchin military site because the AEOI has no station or activity in there and the site has already been inspected by the IAEA.
He pointed to the IAEA's concern about Iran's refusal to allow an inspection of Parchin, and noted, "If we enter another country, would they allow us to visit (inspect) wherever we want?"
"We (AEOI) have no site in Parchin; Parchin has been repeatedly accused despite the fact that it has gone under inspection in the past," Abbasi said.
He reminded that the IAEA should have a strong argument to convince Iranian officials, including the defense minister, that inspection of Parchin is necessary, and said, "Our military commanders are rational people (and would allow IAEA access to Parchin if they are presented with a good reasoning), but the point is that we in the Atomic Energy (Organization of Iran) have not been convinced by the IAEA inspectors of the goal of such a visit."
Iran in April dismissed the allegations raised by a Zionist media that the country has delivered a stockpile of low-enriched uranium to its Parchin military site.
"The Zionist regime is losing (the game) and it seems that they are attempting to fool the world due to the (bad) situation they are entangled in," AEOI Spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi told FNA.
Noting that the Zionist regime is angry at the normalization of relations between Iran and the western countries after the start of the talks between Tehran and the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany), he said, "The regime is seeking to disrupt this trend (of talks) through certain measures."
Kamalvandi dismissed the claims raised by the Zionist Debka website that Iran has delivered 1,300kg of low-enriched uranium to its Parchin military site, and said, "Raising such baseless allegations will unveil the real face of the Zionists more than before to make more clear to the world that their earlier news and reports (about Iran) have also been of the same type and lies."
By Fars News Agency
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