Iran taking hard line during nuclear talks
Nixes additional inspections
VIENNA — Iran took a hard line Thursday on two of the biggest demands of world powers in a final nuclear accord, rejecting extraordinary inspection rules and threatening to ramp up enrichment of bomb-making material if the United States and other countries re-impose sanctions after the deal is in place.
Speaking to reporters in Vienna, where diplomats are trying to clinch a comprehensive nuclear pact, a senior Iranian negotiator said the U.N. nuclear agency’s standard rules governing access to government information, sites of interest and scientists should be sufficient to ensure that Iran’s program is solely for peaceful purposes. Anything beyond that, he said, would be unfair.
The U.S. and some other negotiating countries want Iran to go further.
The Obama administration and some of its negotiating partners are hoping to forge an agreement that would curb Iran’s atomic program for a decade in exchange for relief from crippling sanctions.
Iran has committed to implementing the International Atomic Energy Agency’s “additional protocol” for inspections and monitoring as part of an accord. The protocol gives the IAEA expanded access to declared and undeclared nuclear sites, and to the sensitive information of the governments that accept its provisions.
But the rules don’t guarantee monitors can enter any site they want to and offer no specific guidance about sensitive military sites. Instead, the IAEA’s regulations allow governments to challenge such requests and offer alternative proposals for resolving concerns, such as providing additional documents or access to nearby locations.
U.S. officials have regularly stressed that rules for inspections in an agreement with Iran would have to go beyond those laid out by the IAEA, including a “dispute resolution process” to force Iran to open up facilities, if necessary.
There were few public signs of progress as the negotiations entered a sixth day Thursday after diplomats blew through a June 30 deadline and extended an interim accord by a week.
LOS ANGELES — The Miss USA pageant, left without a TV home following blowback against co-owner Donald Trump over his comments on Mexican immigrants, has been rescued by the Reelz channel.
Reelz CEO Stan E. Hubbard said Thursday that the cable and satellite channel acquired the rights because of a belief that the pageant and the women who compete in it “are an integral part of American tradition.”
Reelz, which reaches 70 million homes, said it considered the interests of Miss USA contestants, the host city of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and viewers in making its decision. The pageant will be televised July 12, its originally scheduled date on NBC.