Iran may halt snap nuclear inspection if parliament approves: official

Xinhuanet: Iran said on Sunday that it might halt snap UN inspections on its nuclear sites if its parliament approved it,
the official IRNA news agency reported. “If the Majlis (parliament) passes the bill like that and it is approved by the Guardian Council, the government will naturally follow it,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted
as saying. Xinhuanet

TEHRAN – Iran said on Sunday that it might halt snap UN inspections on its nuclear sites if its parliament approved it, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“If the Majlis (parliament) passes the bill like that and it is approved by the Guardian Council, the government will naturally follow it,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted as saying.

Some hardline parliament members have threatened to vote for a suspension of the protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty(NPT), which obliges signing members to admit snap inspections.

However, Asefi had earlier denied such a motion, saying the issue was not “seriously on the agenda yet.”

Iran signed the protocol of the NPT last December as a “confidence-building” measure, but the Majlis has not ratified it.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last month adopted a resolution which urged Iran to suspend all uranium-related activities and fully cooperate with the inspectors.

The resolution was rejected by Iran, who was angered and termed it as “illegal”. As a result, some parliament deputies called on the government to withdraw from the NPT.

Iran, accused by the United States of developing secret nuclear weapons for years, was making efforts to clear itself and claimed its right to get access to nuclear energy.