Iran Bars 38 Nuclear Inspectors From Entering

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran has barred 38 nuclear inspectors on a U.N. list from entering the country, the foreign minister said yesterday in what appeared to be retaliation for the U.N. sanctions imposed last month.Iran conducted missile tests yesterday as its leadership stepped up warnings of a military confrontation with America.Meanwhile, Iran’s most senior dissident cleric said President Ahmadinejad’s aggressive nuclear diplomacy had harmed the country, joining a chorus of criticism that has included even the hardline leader’s conservative allies.And America drafted a U.N. resolution condemning the denial of the Holocaust, a month after Iran provoked anger by holding a conference casting doubt on the Nazi genocide of Jews.“The act of rejecting some inspectors is legal and in accordance with the agency’s regulations,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told the Islamic Republic News Agency.The IAEA “submits a long list of inspectors to member countries and the countries have the right to oppose the visit by some inspectors,” Mr. Mottaki said.Last month, the U.N. Security Council imposed limited trade sanctions on Iran over its refusal to cease uranium enrichment, a process that can produce material for nuclear bombs. Days later, the Iranian Parliament passed a motion that obliged the government to revise its cooperation with the IAEA.America rebuked Iran for the move. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said it was “another example of the Iranians trying to dictate the terms to the international community — in this case, the IAEA.”Iran’s leaders have warned of an American attack since President Bush announced on January 9 the deployment of a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf region.The Iranian military yesterday began five days of maneuvers near Garmsar, about 60 miles southeast of Tehran, state television reported. The military tested its Zalzal-1 and Fajr-5 missiles, the report said.The Zalzal-1, able to carry a 1,200-pound payload, has a range of 200 miles. That would put Iraq, American bases in the Gulf, and eastern Saudi Arabia in its range. The Fajr-5, with a 1,800-pound payload, has a range of 35 miles.Neither could reach Israel, but Iran has other missiles that can. It was not known whether the missiles tested are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.The Iranian show of strength came as the American aircraft carrier USS Stennis headed toward the Gulf, joining the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Stennis is expected to arrive in late February.America is also deploying Patriot missiles and nuclear submarines to the Persian Gulf and F-16 fighter planes to the Incirlik base in Turkey.Over the past few days, Iranian newspapers have threatened suicide attacks against American targets and claimed missiles fired from Iran would turn Israel into “a scorching hell” if America takes military action.Comments critical of Mr. Ahmadinejad by Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, released yesterday, reflect a growing feeling that Ahmadinejad has concentrated too much on fiery, anti-American speeches and not enough on the Iranian economy.Ayatollah Montazeri, 85, is one of a few grand ayatollahs, the most senior theologians of the Shiite Islamic faith. He had been the designated successor of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, founder of the 1979 Islamic revolution, until he fell out with Khomeini shortly before his 1989 death after complaining about powers wielded by unelected clerics.He said Iranians have the right to nuclear power, but questioned Mr. Ahmadinejad’s dealings with the international community in obtaining it.“One has to deal with the enemy with wisdom, not provoke it,” he said, according to a copy of his comments obtained by the Associated Press. “This [provocation] only creates problems for the country,” he told a group of reformists and opponents of Mr. Ahmadinejad on Friday in the holy city of Qom, 80 miles south of Tehran.Prices of fruit, vegetables, and food have skyrocketed since the Security Council imposed sanctions on Iran.“Some countries don’t have oil and gas. Yet, they run their country and stand on their own. We have so much oil and gas but make useless expenditures work for others and don’t think of our own people’s problems and the price of basic commodities go higher and higher every day,” Ayatollah Montazeri said. Ayatollah Montazeri appeared to be referring to Mr. Ahmadinejad’s foreign trips.

Iran Bars 38 Nuclear Inspectors From Entering

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