IRAN SAYS NO, NO, NO – AT 12:32 P.M. ET:   Nuclear negotiations with Iran are resuming, but the man in charge of Iran is taking a very tough line.  I can't see how these talks can work.  From CNS: 

(CNSNews.com) – As the Iran nuclear talks were due to resume in Vienna on Wednesday, Iran's spiritual leader and its main nuclear negotiator both doubled down on rejecting a core element of any deal – the right of international inspectors to access military sites.

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, told military commanders Wednesday he will not allow international inspection of Iran's military sites or access to Iranian scientists under any nuclear agreement with world powers. He said Iran will resist "coercion and excessive demands," the Associated Press reported.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif insisted that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) officials would not be allowed to inspect the facilities, and also charged that Western claims to the contrary were merely designed to placate pressure groups at home.

The Obama administration says that Iran agreed to such inspections in an interim “framework” agreement reached on April 2. A White House fact sheet at the time said it was agreed Iran must allow IAEA inspectors “regular access to all” declared nuclear facilities, as well as access to any locations of suspected illicit nuclear activity, “anywhere in the country.”

That nuclear verification regime, described by President Obama as “the most robust and intrusive” ever negotiated,” goes beyond the requirements of the “additional protocols” to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) which apply to the nuclear programs of more than 130 countries.

But Zarif, speaking alongside his Hungarian counterpart in Tehran, stated that Iran’s additional protocol implementation – which he emphasized was voluntary – would never entail “excessive and unreasonable” access to its facilities, since “military and even economic secrets” were not covered by the protocol.

The Tehran Times quoted him as saying that certain Western officials’ “sensational” remarks about access to Iran’s facilities were simply intended merely to “pacify” pressure groups.

Zarif also chided the U.S. for what he suggested was its disregard for what had been agreed upon in the framework agreement.

COMMENT:  The Iranians may be playing chicken, not a bad bet when dealing with Obama, but they may stick to their position, which may mean a collapse in the talks...or an extension of them.  It would make perfect sense for the Iranians to seek an extension, and then another.  They would keep running their nuclear program, while holding out the prospect of an agreement.  I'd imagine we'd go along rather than blowing up the talks.

One has to be impressed with the Iranian negotiators.  Iran has a history of highly skilled diplomacy.  They're getting what they want because they've sized us up perfectly.

May 20, 2015