Iran’s powerful Guard rejects inspections
TEHRAN, Iran– International nuclear inspectors will be barred from all Iranian military sites under any deal with world powers, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guard said Sunday, setting up a possible standoff as negotiators try to reach a final deal.
Gen. Hossein Salami, the Guard’s deputy leader, told Iranian state television that allowing foreign inspection of military sites is tantamount to “selling out,” raising the stakes as talks between Iran and the six-nation group are to resume Wednesday in Vienna.
“We will respond with hot lead (bullets) to those who speak of it,” Salami said. “Iran will not become a paradise for spies. We will not roll out the red carpet for the enemy.”
Video: IS kills Ethiopian Christians
CAIRO – Islamic State militants in Libya shot and beheaded groups of captive Ethiopian Christians, a video purportedly from IS showed Sunday. The attack widens the circle of nations affected by the group’s atrocities while showing its growth beyond a self-declared caliphate in Syria and Iraq.
The release of the 29-minute video comes a day after Afghanistan’s president blamed the extremists for a suicide attack in his country that killed at least 35 people.
It also mirrored a film released in February showing militants beheading 21 captured Egyptian Christians on a Libyan beach, which immediately drew Egyptian airstrikes on the group’s suspected positions in Libya. Whether Ethiopia would – or could – respond with similar military force remains unclear.
Finnish opposition leader claims victory
HELSINKI – Juha Sipila declared his opposition Center Party the winner of Finland’s parliamentary election Sunday and will become the country’s new prime minister at the head of a coalition government.
Sipila, a self-effacing millionaire businessman who entered politics four years ago, told jubilant voters at the party headquarters that “it looks like we’ve won the election.”
Conservative Prime Minister Alexander Stubb conceded defeat.
“It’s a fact that the Center Party has won the election,” Stubb said. “Now we have to focus ... on how to get Finland back on track to growth.”
Associated Press
