Rouhani says IAEA unlikely to accept U.S. demand for Iran military site inspection

FILE PHOTO: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani takes part in a news conference near the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S., September 22, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson/File Photo

ANKARA (Reuters) - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday the U.S. demand for U.N. nuclear inspectors to visit Iran's military facilities were unlikely to be accepted by the nuclear watchdog. "The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is very unlikely to accept America's demand to inspect our military sites," Rouhani said in a televised interview. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, last week pressed the IAEA to seek access to Iranian military bases to ensure that they were not concealing activities banned by a 2015 nuclear deal reached between Iran and six major powers. He gave no indication why he believed the IAEA would decline the request. (Writing by Parisa Hafezi)