UN to Let Iran Inspect Alleged Nuke Work Site
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Thursday, 8.20.15 ON THE WEB: www.yankton.net NEWSROOM: [email protected] RESS AKOTAN the world P &D PAGE 7 Islamic State Beheads Syrian Scholar DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — The 81-year-old antiquities UN To Let Iran Inspect scholar had dedicated his life to exploring and overseeing Syria’s ancient ruins of Palmyra, one of the Middle East’s most spectacular archaeological sites. He even named his daughter after Zenobia, the queen that ruled from the city 1,700 years ago. That dedication may have cost him his life. On Wednesday, Alleged Nuke Work Site relatives and witnesses said Khaled al-Asaad was beheaded by Islamic State militants, his bloodied body hung on a pole in a GEORGE JAHN ing Iran to inspect its own nuclear site The document seen by the AP is a main square. Antiquities officials said they believed IS militants had Associated Press and report to the U.N. in an open and draft that one official familiar with its transparent way is remarkably naive and contents said doesn’t differ substantially interrogated al-Asaad, a long-time director of the site, trying incredibly reckless. This revelation only from the final version. He demanded to get him to divulge where authorities had hidden treasures VIENNA (AP) — Iran will be allowed secreted out of Palmyra before the extremists seized the ruins to use its own inspectors to investigate reinforces the deep-seated concerns anonymity because he wasn’t authorized the American people have about the to discuss the issue in public. last spring. a site it has been accused of using to The brutal killing stunned Syria’s archaeological commu- develop nuclear arms, operating under agreement.” The document is labeled “separate ar- The Parchin agreement was worked rangement II,” indicating there is another nity and underscored fears the extremists will destroy or loot a secret agreement with the U.N. agency the 2,000-year-old Roman-era city on the edge of a modern that normally carries out such work, out between the IAEA and Iran. The Unit- confidential agreement between Iran and ed States and the five other world powers the IAEA governing the agency’s probe of town of the same name, as they have other major archaeologi- according to a document seen by The As- cal sites in Syria and Iraq. sociated Press. were not party to it but were briefed by the nuclear weapons allegations. the IAEA and endorsed it as part of the Iran is to provide agency experts with “We have lost not just a scholar of archaeology but one of The revelation on Wednesday newly the pillars of archaeology in the 20th century,” said Ahmad riled Republican lawmakers in the U.S. larger package. photos and videos of locations the IAEA On Wednesday, White House National says are linked to the alleged weapons Ferzat Taraqji, a 56-year-old antiquities expert and friend of who have been severely critical of a the victim. broader agreement to limit Iran’s future Security Council spokesman Ned Price work, “taking into account military con- nuclear programs, signed by the Obama said the Obama administration was cerns.” administration, Iran and five world pow- “confident in the agency’s technical plans That wording suggests that — beyond ers in July. Those critics have complained for investigating the possible military di- being barred from physically visiting the Scientists Know How Genes Makes You Fat that the wider deal is unwisely built on mensions of Iran’s former program. ... The site — the agency won’t get photo or Scientists have finally figured out how the key gene tied to trust of the Iranians, while the administra- IAEA has separately developed the most video information from areas Iran says obesity makes people fat, a major discovery that could open tion has insisted it depends on reliable robust inspection regime ever peacefully are off-limits because they have military the door to an entirely new approach to the problem beyond inspections. negotiated.” significance. diet and exercise. A skeptical House Speaker John All IAEA member countries must give While the document says the IAEA The work solves a big mystery: Since 2007, researchers Boehner said, “President Obama boasts the agency some insight into their nuclear “will ensure the technical authenticity” of have known that a gene called FTO was related to obesity, but his deal includes ‘unprecedented verifica- programs. Some are required to do no Iran’s inspection, it does not say how. they didn’t know how, and could not tie it to appetite or other tion.’ He claims it’s not built on trust. But more than give a yearly accounting of the The draft is unsigned but the pro- known factors. the administration’s briefings on these nuclear material they possess. But na- posed signatory for Iran is listed as Ali Now experiments reveal that a faulty version of the gene side deals have been totally insufficient tions— like Iran — suspected of possible Hoseini Tash, deputy secretary of the causes energy from food to be stored as fat rather than - and it still isn’t clear whether anyone proliferation are under greater scrutiny Supreme National Security Council for burned. Genetic tinkering in mice and on human cells in the at the White House has seen the final that can include stringent inspections. Strategic Affairs. That reflects the signifi- lab suggests this can be reversed, giving hope that a drug or documents.” The agreement in question diverges cance Tehran attaches to the agreement. other treatment might be developed to do the same in people. Said House Foreign Affairs Committee from normal procedures by allowing Iranian diplomats in Vienna were The work was led by scientists at MIT and Harvard Uni- Chairman Ed Royce: “International inspec- Tehran to employ its own experts and unavailable for comment, Wednesday versity and published online Wednesday by the New England tions should be done by international equipment in the search for evidence of while IAEA spokesman Serge Gas said the Journal of Medicine. inspectors. Period.” activities it has consistently denied — try- agency had no immediate comment. The discovery challenges the notion that “when people get But House Democratic leader Nancy ing to develop nuclear weapons. The main focus of the July 14 deal obese it was basically their own choice because they choose Pelosi shrugged off the revelation, saying, Olli Heinonen, who was in charge of between Iran and six world powers is to eat too much or not exercise,” said study leader Melina “I truly believe in this agreement.” the Iran probe as deputy IAEA director curbing Iran’s present nuclear program Claussnitzer, a genetics specialist at Harvard-affiliated Beth The newly disclosed side agreement, general from 2005 to 2010, said he could that could be used to make weapons. But Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “For the first time, genetics for an investigation of the Parchin nuclear think of no similar concession with any a subsidiary element obligates Tehran to has revealed a mechanism in obesity that was not really sus- site by the U.N.’s International Atomic other country. cooperate with the IAEA in its probe of pected before” and gives a third explanation or factor that’s Energy Agency, is linked to persistent al- The White House has repeatedly de- the past allegations. involved. legations that Iran has worked on atomic nied claims of a secret side deal favorable The investigation has been essentially weapons. That investigation is part of the to Tehran. IAEA chief Yukiya Amano deadlocked for years, with Tehran as- overarching nuclear-limits deal. told Republican senators last week that serting the allegations are based on false Israel Suspends Detention Of Striker Evidence of the inspections conces- he was obligated to keep the document intelligence from the U.S., Israel and other JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday sion is sure to increase pressure from confidential. adversaries. But Iran and the U.N. agency suspended the detention order against a Palestinian prisoner U.S. congressional opponents before a Iran has refused access to Parchin for agreed last month to wrap up the investi- who has been on a hunger strike for 65 days, releasing him Senate vote of disapproval on the overall years and has denied any interest in — or gation by December, when the IAEA plans while he receives medical care in a ruling that his relatives and agreement in early September. If the work on — nuclear weapons. Based on to issue a final assessment. supporters hailed as a victory. resolution passes and President Barack U.S., Israeli and other intelligence and its That assessment is unlikely to be The decision means that Mohammed Allan will no longer Obama vetoes it, opponents would need own research, the IAEA suspects that the unequivocal. Still, it is expected to be be shackled to his bed and his family will be able to visit him a two-thirds majority to override it. Even Islamic Republic may have experimented approved by the IAEA’s board, which in the hospital, where his lawyer said he remains sedated and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, with high-explosive detonators for nu- includes the United States and the other unconscious. a Republican, has suggested opponents clear arms. nations that negotiated the July 14 agree- The court’s action did little to resolve a debate over will likely lose a veto fight, though that The IAEA has cited evidence, based ment. They do not want to upend their Israel’s practice of holding suspects without charge, known as was before Wednesday’s disclosure. on satellite images, of possible attempts broader deal, and will see the December administrative detention, or a new law that permits the force- John Cornyn of Texas, the second- to sanitize the site since the alleged work report as closing the books on the issue.