Arash Aramesh

Alaeddin Boroujerdi, chairman of Foreign Relations and National Security Committee in the Iranian parliament, said Iran was going to deny entry to International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors who provided information to the media and other countries about Iran’s nuclear activities.

According to Press TV, Iran’s state owned English-language news channel, the Iranian parliament is scheduled to vote on the proposed travel ban soon. The motion, however, does not call for banning the IAEA as an organization from Iran, even though some Iranian leaders had threatened last week to severe all ties with the IAEA.

In the past week, a number of high-ranking Iranian officials have reacted harshly to the UN Security Council resolution imposing new sanctions on Iran. Iran’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Manouchehr Mottaki said on June 9 that the world should “expect Iran’s response.”

On the same day, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad compared the UN resolution to a “soiled cloth” and said he did not care for the resolution. President Ahmadinejad and members of his administrations have since adopted a softer tone. President Ahmadinejad said June 15 that Iran was going to abide by the trilateral deal reached with Turkey and Brazil on May 16, despite new international sanctions.

But President Ahmadinejad is not the only politician in the Islamic Republic who influences the direction of Iran’s nuclear program.

Ali Larijani, the speaker of parliament, warned the world about attempting to inspect ships destined for Iran. According to the new UN resolution, ships headed to Iran can be stopped and their cargos can be inspected in international waters.

Ali Saidi, Supreme Leader’s representative at the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, told Mehr, a semi-official news agency, that “The West should stay away from entering the dangerous game of inspecting Iranian ships.” He said China and Russia’s position regarding Iran’s nuclear program was “surprising” and added, “An independent and anti-American Iran would be crucial to the strategies of China and Russia in the region.”

Saidi’s most interesting remarks were his implicit criticism of the canceled parliamentary vote to sever ties with the IAEA. Saidi asserted, “Some have said that we should sever our ties with the 5+1 and the IAEA which is certainly not in our national interest.” He added, “We should not cut off our ties to the West and react harshly to every move they make. Instead, we should move forward rationally.”

Since the passage of the fourth round of UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Iranian officials have sent mixed signals about how they are going to respond to the West. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s silence on this matter has only added more to the confusion. Despite some harsh rhetoric, including Ahmadinejad’s comments today that Iran’s conditions for negotiating have changed, it seems that the IRGC and the President are willing to sit down with the 5+1 and avoid further tensions with the West over Iran’s controversial nuclear program.