Iran MPs’ vote may impede deal talks

Parliament approves bill that will ban access to military sites and may stall progress on June 30 nuclear deadline

TEHRAN // With some members chanting “Death to the America”, Iran’s parliament voted to ban access to military sites, documents and scientists as part of a deal with world powers over its contested nuclear programme.

The bill, if approved , could complicate talks in Vienna between Iran and a six-nation group – the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany – as they face a self-imposed June 30 deadline. The talks are focused on reaching a final accord that curbs Iran’s nuclear programme in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.

Of the 213 MPs present yesterday, 199 voted in favour of the bill, which also demands the complete lifting of all sanctions against Iran as part of any final nuclear accord. The bill must be ratified by the Guardian Council, a constitutional watchdog, to become law.

The terms stipulated in the bill allow for international inspections of Iranian nuclear sites, but forbid any inspections of military facilities.

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani read the bill aloud in a session broadcast live on state radio. It stated in part: “The International Atomic Energy Agency, within the framework of the safeguard agreement, is allowed to carry out conventional inspections of nuclear sites”.

However, it concludes that “access to military, security and sensitive non-nuclear sites, as well as documents and scientists, is forbidden”.

Iran’s nuclear negotiators say they have agreed to grant United Nations inspectors “managed access” to military sites. That right includes allowing inspectors to take environmental samples in the vicinity of military sites.

But Iranian officials, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameni, have rejected the idea of Iranian scientists being interviewed, calling that a violation of the country’s dignity and sovereignty.

However, in a boost to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, key amendments to the proposed legislation will now move the formal supervision of a deal out of the hands of legislators.

The original text had set criteria that parliament would have to say had been met for an agreement to be binding.

But the amended bill instead gives the right of supervision to the country’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC).

The council comprises ministers, military commanders and appointees of the supreme leader. Chaired by Mr Rouhani, who is pushing hard for a nuclear deal, it is controlled by Mr Khamenei’s final word. Only three MPs opposed the changes and five abstained, with six not voting and dozens more absent from the 290-member house.

Any deal will still have to be ratified by parliament but it would be highly unlikely by that stage that legislators would oppose a text approved by the SNSC.

The bill stipulates the need to lift all sanctions imposed on Iran as punishment for its nuclear programme, under which states suspected it of developing a bomb.

However, the altered draft law is now more specific and says sanctions must be lifted “on the day Iran starts implementing its obligations”, as opposed to “on the day of an agreement”. World powers insist that Iran’s compliance must be verified if sanctions are to be removed.

In a sign of greater flexibility, Mr Rouhani said on June 13 that “weeks or even months will pass” between signing and implementing the deal.

In a measure that mirrors that taken in Tehran, president Barack Obama has given US legislators 30 days to review a nuclear deal.