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Iran’s Supreme Leader Rules Out Broad Nuclear Inspections Iran’s Supreme Leader Rules Out Broad Nuclear Inspections
(about 9 hours later)
TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday ruled out inspections of Iranian military sites and interviews of Iranian nuclear scientists in any potential deal on its nuclear program. TEHRAN — Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday ruled out allowing international inspectors to interview Iranian nuclear scientists as part of any potential deal on its nuclear program, and reiterated that the country would not allow the inspection of military sites.
In a speech at a graduation ceremony at the Imam Hussein Military University in Tehran, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, denounced what he said were escalating demands in the nuclear talks between Iran and world powers that resumed on Wednesday in Vienna. In a graduation speech at the Imam Hussein Military University in Tehran, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, widely believed to have the final say on whether Iran accepts a deal if one is reached next month, denounced what he said were escalating demands by the United States and five other world powers as they accelerate the pace of the negotiations with Iran.
“They say new things in the negotiations. Regarding inspections, we have said that we will not let foreigners inspect any military center,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, according to a text of the speech released on his personal website, Khamenei.ir. “They say new things in the negotiations,” Ayatollah Khamenei told the military graduates. “Regarding inspections, we have said that we will not let foreigners inspect any military center.”
After the last round of talks ended on Friday, a barrage of complaints erupted on the Iranian state news media over reported demands by the United States for broad mandates for nuclear inspectors working for the United Nations nuclear watchdog. Like last summer, when he vowed that Iran would ultimately build an industrial-scale uranium enrichment capability — with 190,000 centrifuges, or 10 times the number now installed — the ayatollah’s comments are bound to cause deep complications for Iran’s negotiators, led by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
The comments by Ayatollah Khamenei seemingly cement the Iranian position that a requirement for inspections of sites not designated by the country as part of its nuclear energy program is a nonstarter. While not new, the statement could further tie the hands of Iran’s negotiating team, led by Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who on Friday said that a comprehensive deal before the self-imposed June 30 deadline was still possible. Skeptics about the preliminary deals described by Secretary of State John Kerry have focused on the absence of “anywhere, anytime” inspections and a lack of clarity about whether and when Tehran would have to answer 12 outstanding questions from the International Atomic Energy Agency about what the inspectors call “possible military dimensions” of the program.
Interviews with nuclear scientists are a thorny issue in Iran, where five were assassinated in separate attacks from 2010 to 2012. Iran has accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of leaking personal information about the scientists to Israel, which then carried out the assassinations. As a matter of policy, Israel does not comment on such accusations. Central to that is the ability to interview nuclear scientists, starting with Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the man considered by Western intelligence officials to be the closest thing Iran has to J. Robert Oppenheimer, who guided the Manhattan Project to develop the world’s first nuclear weapon. The scientists and engineers Mr. Fakhrizadeh has assembled over the past 15 years are best suited to explain, or rebut, documents suggesting that Iran has extensively researched warheads, nuclear ignition systems and related technologies. Mr. Fakhrizadeh has never been made available to inspectors for interviews, and his network of laboratories, some on university campuses, have not been part of inspections.
In April, Mr. Kerry told Judy Woodruff on “PBS NewsHour” that Iran could not avoid answering the questions about its past actions. “They have to do it. It will be done,” he said. “If there’s going to be a deal, it will be done.”
But it is not clear how that would be enforced, and it seems likely that oil and financial sanctions would be lifted early in the process, before the explanations to inspectors could be finished.
After the last round of talks ended on Friday in Vienna, a barrage of complaints erupted in the Iranian state news media over reported demands by the United States for broad mandates for nuclear inspectors working for the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
The comments by Ayatollah Khamenei seemed to cement the Iranian position that requiring inspections of sites not designated by the country as part of its nuclear energy program is a nonstarter. While not new, the statement could make it harder for Mr. Zarif to seal a comprehensive deal before the self-imposed June 30 deadline.
Interviews with nuclear scientists have long been a contentious issue with Iran. Five scientists were killed in separate attacks from 2010 to 2012, attacks that the United States and other countries believe were initiated by Israeli intelligence. Iran has accused the International Atomic Energy Agency of leaking personal information about the scientists to Israel. Israel has never commented on the accusations.
“They say the right to interview nuclear scientists must be given,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, according to his website. “This means interrogation. I will not let foreigners come and talk to scientists and dear children of the nation who have developed this science up to this level.”“They say the right to interview nuclear scientists must be given,” Ayatollah Khamenei said, according to his website. “This means interrogation. I will not let foreigners come and talk to scientists and dear children of the nation who have developed this science up to this level.”
The supreme leader also sent a warning to a regional rival, Saudi Arabia, and its Sunni Arab allies not to stir up trouble in Iran’s border provinces, populated mostly by Iran’s Sunni minorities. He also sent a warning to a regional rival, Saudi Arabia, and its Sunni Arab allies not to stir up trouble in Iran’s border provinces, populated mostly by Iran’s Sunni minorities. “I have some news that enemies in cooperation with some stupid officials in the region intend to bring proxy wars close to the borders of Iran,” the ayatollah said. “They should know that if they cause mischief, Iran’s reaction will be very harsh.”
“I have some news that enemies in cooperation with some stupid officials in the region intend to bring proxy wars close to the borders of Iran,” Ayatollah Khamenei said. They should know that if they cause mischief, Iran’s reaction will be very harsh.” Shiite Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia are backing opposing sectarian forces in a proxy war in Yemen and many smaller conflicts in the Middle East, although they are nominal allies in the war against the Islamic State.
Shiite Iran and Saudi Arabia are backing opposing sectarian forces in a proxy war in Yemen and many other smaller conflicts in the Middle East, although they are nominal allies in the war against the Islamic State. On Wednesday, a brewing crisis over an Iranian cargo ship headed to Yemen that Tehran says is carrying aid but that Saudi Arabia suspects has weapons seemed to have been defused. The Saudi Navy had threatened to board the ship, which, in addition to its cargo, carried a group of reporters from the Iranian state news media.
On Wednesday, a brewing crisis over an Iranian cargo ship headed to Yemen that Tehran says is carrying aid but that Saudi Arabia suspects has weapons seemed to have been defused. The Saudi Navy had threatened to board the ship, which in addition to its cargo carried a group of reporters from the Iranian state media. The Iranian state news agency IRNA reported that a decision had been made for the ship to sail to the port of Djibouti for inspection by the Red Cross.
The state news agency IRNA reported that a decision was made for the ship to sail to the port of Djibouti, where it was to be inspected by the International Committee of the Red Cross.