Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan. In an interview on Wednesday, he said Iran would not allow all nuclear sites to be inspected. Photo: Wikipedia.

Iran’s defense minister said on Wednesday that his country would not allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to visit every site and facility that it desires to inspect, Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency reported.

Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan made this statement in an interview with the Lebanon-based, pan-Arabist satellite TV network al-Mayadeen.

Dehghan asserted that granting the IAEA permission to inspect any site at will would violate both IAEA regulations and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

These comments come on the heels of Dehghan’s repeated warnings that Iran would never allow any foreign entity access to Iran’s defense and missile capabilities.

“Missile-related issues have never been on the agenda of the nuclear talks, and the Islamic system will resolutely implement its programs in this field,” he said in July, shortly after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was reached between Iran and the P5+1 in Vienna.

At the time, he said, “The U.S. officials make boastful remarks and imagine that they can impose anything on the Iranian nation because they lack a proper knowledge of the Iranian nation,” adding that the time had come for the United States to realize it is no longer recognized as a global superpower that can impose its will on other countries.