International inspectors must have ‘anywhere, anytime’ access – not ‘some places, sometimes,’ says Foreign Affairs Chair

Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued this statement following comments from a U.S. negotiator at the Iran talks that “anywhere, anytime” inspector access would be “not appropriate” because the U.S. “wouldn’t allow anybody to get into every [U.S.] military site.”

“In dealing with the critical issue of inspections, it’s beyond me why our negotiators are equating Iran’s illicit nuclear program – still subject to many U.N. Security Council Resolutions demanding that it be halted – with the United States.  Of course, the U.S. is a recognized nuclear-weapon state under the Non-Proliferation Treaty – subject to different access standards – Iran is not.  Surely U.S. negotiators recognize this difference.

“The U.S. and its partners are offering Iran international acceptance of its nuclear program.  This exceptional offer would give a stamp of approval to parts of Iran’s program that had been hidden for years, buried under a mountaintop on a military base.  It was, after all, at the Parchin military base that Iran’s work on nuclear warheads took place.  U.N. inspectors have been blocked from visiting this site for nine years.

“It’s logical that any deal with a nuclear pariah and state sponsor of terrorism must require exceptional access for international inspectors.  Iran cheated more than others, so it should have to do more than others to open up.  Stop explaining Iran’s position, and certainly don’t do it by comparing Iran with the U.S. in any way, shape, or form.  The standard needs to be ‘go anywhere, anytime’ – not go ‘some places, sometimes.’”

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