Iran would get nuclear help in proposed deal

Western powers are offering Tehran high-tech reactors under a proposed nuclear agreement, a confidential document says, but a defiant speech by Iran's supreme leader less than a week before a negotiating deadline casts doubt on whether he's willing to make the necessary concessions to seal a deal.
The talks, which resumed today in Vienna on restraining any Iranian efforts to make atomic arms, appeared to be behind schedule judging by the draft document obtained by The Associated Press.
The draft, one of several technical appendices meant to accompany the main body of any deal, has bracketed text in dozens of places where disagreements remain.

Technical cooperation is the least controversial issue at the talks, and the number of brackets suggest the sides have a ways to go not only on that topic but also more contentious disputes before the June 30 deadline for a deal.
Iran's top leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had yesterday rejected a long-term freeze on nuclear research and supported the idea of barring international inspectors from military sites.
Khamenei, in comments broadcast on Iranian state television, also said Iran would sign a final deal only if all economic sanctions on the country were first lifted. The preliminary deal calls for sanctions to be lifted gradually after an agreement is finalized.

In Washington, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said today, "What we're most focused on are the actions, not the words." That would involve the "actions of the Iranians as they implement the agreement, if one can be reached," he said, including cooperation with "intrusive inspections."

A day earlier, he suggested the talks could go past the June 30 deadline.
If a deal "requires us to take a couple of extra days ... then we'll do that," he said.
In another sign the Islamic Republic may be toughening its stance, Iran's Guardian Council today enacted legislation banning access to military sites and scientists, according to state TV.

Both Washington and the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN monitor of Iranian compliance to any deal say IAEA experts need such access to watch Tehran's present nuclear programs and to breathe life into a long-stalled investigation of suspicions that Iran worked on nuclear arms in previous years.