UN reports Iran work ‘specific’ to nuke arms

UN reports Iran work ‘specific’ to nuke arms

VIENNA

The U.N. atomic agency said for the first time Tuesday that Iran is suspected of conducting secret experiments whose sole purpose is the development of nuclear arms, an assessment that draws on 1,000 pages of intelligence and nearly a decade of research.

The report by the International Atomic Energy Agency is its most unequivocal yet suggesting that Iran is using the cover of a peaceful nuclear program to produce atomic weaponry. Based on years of trying to probe Tehran’s secretive activities, its release will stoke debate on whether it’s time to jettison failed diplomatic efforts to end Iran’s nuclear defiance and replace them with force.

The 13-page annex to the IAEA’s regularly scheduled report on Iran included evidence that suggests the Islamic republic is working on the clandestine procurement of equipment and designs to make nuclear arms.

Appeals court upholds Obama health-care law

WASHINGTON

A conservative-leaning appeals-court panel on Tuesday upheld the constitutionality of President Barack Obama’s health-care law, as the Supreme Court prepares to consider this week whether to resolve conflicting rulings over the law’s requirement that all Americans buy health-care insurance.

A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a split opinion upholding the lower court’s ruling that found Congress did not overstep its authority in requiring people to have insurance or pay a penalty on their taxes, beginning in 2014.

Sarkozy, Obama heard criticizing Netanyahu

PARIS

The French president’s overheard remark to President Barack Obama that Israel’s prime minister is a “liar” laid bare escalating international frustration at deadlocked peace efforts — and left all three world leaders looking blemished.

Obama, heard through an interpreter, responded, “I have to work with him every day.”

Some Israelis felt French President Nicolas Sarkozy uttered out loud what many think in private about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Others were shocked and embarrassed.

Fragments of a conversation between Sarkozy and Obama were overheard by reporters last week at the Group of 20 summit in southern France, via headsets that were to be used for simultaneous translation of an upcoming news conference.

It’s an awkward moment for Obama, who already was seen as cool to Netanyahu but is Israel’s main international ally.

Associated Press