Iran Wants Chief U.N. Nuclear Inspector Removed

Iran continues to dog the inspectors and the U.N.’s response is to call for a “timeout”.

Iran, cranking up a war of nerves with the West, has demanded the removal of the official running U.N. nuclear inspections, diplomats said on Friday.

Warning of a spiral toward conflict, the head of the U.N. atomic agency called on Iran and the West to declare a “timeout” under which Iranian nuclear work and U.N. sanctions would be suspended simultaneously.

Tehran’s move, following a ban on 38 inspectors from four major Western nations announced on Monday, appeared aimed at testing Western resolve over its disputed nuclear activity while stopping short of violating the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Have no fear. War might still be averted. The U.N. has another 49 possible resolutions to the problem in reserve.