Iranian Leader Rejects Inspections for Nuclear Scientists

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued s statement Wednesday in which he declared, “We will never yield to pressure…we will not accept unreasonable demands…Iran will not give access to its (nuclear) scientists.” Questioning of nuclear scientists by outside experts is a standard procedure for the kinds of nuclear inspections Iran is required to submit to under existing treaties and Wednesday’s statement is only the latest by an Iranian official demanding to be exempted from such standard treatment. In related news, a senior Israel official told Reuters on Tuesday that a recent breach of the sanctions regime designed to thwart Iran’s renegade nuclear program could have been prevented if the US had heeded Israeli warnings about it. Iran’s Transport Ministry recently purchased 15 used passenger aircraft in a blatant violation of long-standing US sanctions. “We flagged the issue to the US administration,” the official said. “Unfortunately, the deal still went through and there was no success in preventing it.”