TEHRAN - Ali Shamkhani has said Iran will not allow the U.S. make excessive demands from Iran in the nuclear talks.

The secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran made the remarks in a televised program aired late on Saturday.

Shamkhani said Iran will not accept inspection of its military sites or interview with its nuclear scientists and the West’s insistence in this regard is “futile”.

According to the framework nuclear agreement signed between Iran and the major powers in Lausanne on April Iran agreed to sign the Additional Protocol to the NPT once a final nuclear deal is sealed.

Shamkhani said any inspections based on the protocol have some “legal limits”.

Under the pretext that Iran’s nuclear program has military dimensions the West imposed sanctions on Iran and now it has become clear that all those allegations were fake, he said, asking, “Now what has happened that they are seeking inspections?”

He insisted on Iran’s position that “the United States should seek a resolution of technical issues in the course of negotiations rather than humiliating the Iranian nation.”

He went on to say that in a specific period of time IAEA inspectors did interviews with some Iranian nuclear experts “but they never wrote that they were convinced (about the interviews) and after that three of our country’s scientists which the Agency knew them were assassinated.”

“What is the relationship between these two issues?” Shamkhani asked.

In terms of inspections, he said, Iran should not be treated as an exception and this is something that has also been stated by some countries in the 5+1 group.

The former defense chief went on to say that there is a “logic and strategy” on the part of Iran in managing nuclear talks.

He also said rival political groups should have consensus whether Iran reaches a nuclear deal with great powers or not, noting that concerns about the content of a potential deal should not be turned into a “political and factional tool” for undermining those who have different opinions.

“And we should not accuse each other of treason.”

------- Shamkhani says I am the first on the list for interview-----


Asked about the names of 23 Iranians asked to be interviewed in connection to the nuclear program, Shamkhani said, “I am the first one (on the list).”

He said these 23 people are among the “officials and experts of the country”.

The names of the people on the list are “ludicrous”, the security chief noted.

He added, “It would be much better if we succeed to reach an agreement but if it does not happen there will be no harm to us.”


-----Nuclear issue will define Iran’s status in region ------

Shamkhani also said the nuclear issue will finally define Iran’s “strategic” status in the region.

The nuclear issue is beyond technical, political and legal issues, he added.

The top security official stated that the nuclear issue will have some consequences and effects that will be important for Iran’s future in the region.


---------Iran most stable country in Mideast ---------


He also said Iran is in a “very good status” in terms of “power, independence and stability”, calling Iran the most “powerful” country in the region.

Iran is the most “stable” and “independent” country in the Mideast region and will not allow the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) pose threat to it.

The official also stated that security threats against Iran’s borders, Baghdad and holy shrines inside Iraq are Iran’s “redlines”.

“We should be more aware than the past.”

Commenting on the international coalition formed to counter against ISIL, Shamkhani said that if they intend to fight against terrorism, why they support the terrorists in Syria and give weapons to them.

He went on to say that the U.S. strategy in countering terrorism in the region is filled with “contradictions”.

On possible plans to divide up Iraq, he said that the Iraqi people see more merits in the integrity of their country than its division.


NA/PA