On May 13, when International Atomic Energy Agency head Yukiya Amano said that the agency expects Iran would permit inspections of military sites as part of a comprehensive nuclear deal, conservative Iranian media outlets reacted harshly, vowing that Iran would not allow such a thing. On May 20, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran would not only not allow inspections of military sites but most importantly, would not allow the IAEA to “interrogate” Iran’s nuclear scientists, saying the request came from a “brazen and insolent enemy.”

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) had reportedly presented Iran a list of names of nuclear scientists to be questioned by the IAEA. On May 26, Iranian negotiator Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said that while Iran would accept “managed inspections” as part of the Additional Protocols, it had rejected the P5+1 request to interview Iran’s nuclear scientists.

In an interview with Iranian TV on May 30, Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), added a twist to the controversy when he said that his name was “first” on the list of those the P5+1 had requested to interview. He added, “It’s not clear what questions they have. There are 23 individuals and our negotiators have rejected this request.”

Up until this point, it was believed that only a request to speak with Iran’s nuclear scientists had been presented. However, Shamkhani’s words suggest the P5+1 and the IAEA have a wider list that includes military officials as well. Shamkhani has had a long military career. Before being appointed SNSC secretary, he was a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps during the Iran-Iraq War, commander of the IRGC's and Iran's regular navies and served as President Mohammad Khatami’s defense minister from 1997 to 2005. He is also Khamenei’s representative to the SNSC.