29 Mar 2024
Tuesday 14 April 2015 - 15:38
Story Code : 160060

Commander: Iran's military capabilities not negotiable

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Ahmad Reza Pourdastan underlined that the Army's military and defense capabilities would never be an agenda for the ongoing talks between Tehran and the world powers.

"The power, capability and development of the Army are no subject for the negotiations with the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany)," Brigadier General Pourdastan told reporters on Tuesday.

He underlined that the general policies of the Armed Forces are approved by the Joint Chief of Staff and the defense issues are by no means subject of discussion with the West.

Last week in relevant remarks, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Brigadier General Massoud Jazzayeri rejected media reports that inspection of the country's military centers is included in the recent nuclear statement issued by Iran and the world powers in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

The Swiss statement does not include allowing inspections of military centers, Jazzayeri said on Thursday.

"We have not so far permitted inspection of the military centers, and we are not to do so in the future," he underlined.

His remarks came after the UK Guardian Daily claimed that inspecting Iran's military centers was mentioned in the Lausanne statement at the end of talks between Iran and the G5+1 on April 2.

In relevant comments on Wednesday, Iran's Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan categorically rejected as a "lie" a Guardian report alleging that Tehran had granted access to its military facilities under the recent framework agreement with the world powers.

"No such agreement has been made; principally speaking, visit to military centers is among our redlines and no such visit will be accepted," General Dehqan stressed on Wednesday, rejecting "the report by foreign media outlets, such as the Guardian" as "untruthful allegations".

The Iranian defense minister reiterated that the Supreme Leader's guidelines, government's strategy and the negotiating team's resolve have placed the Iranian diplomacy on a path that it would never allow the opposite parties to the talks impose their will on the Iranian nation.

Iran and the G5+1 started their new round of talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 26 to narrow their differences over Tehran's nuclear energy program ahead of a July 1 deadline.

After nine days of hard work, the seven nations reached an understanding last Thursday which laid the ground for them to start drafting the final nuclear deal.

On Tuesday, Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari underscored that termination of all sanctions and possession of the full nuclear fuel cycle as Iran's redline in any nuclear agreement with the world powers.

"In addition to the right of possessing the nuclear enrichment cycle and Research and Development (R&D), termination of all the relevant sanctions which are the centerpiece of the Iranian nation's demands are our redline," Jafari said, addressing the IRGC commanders in Tehran.

By Fars News Agency
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