Christian Charlier is an inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency the (IAEA). He had been one of the inspectors trying to figure out what the Iranian regime is up to in the area of nuclear research and development. Charlier has been critical of the Iranian regime for its many obfuscations and deceptions.

Guess what? Iran’s rulers don’t like to be criticized. So they have prevailed upon the IAEA to bar Charlier from entering Iran to conduct IAEA any further oversight investigations. Another IAEA inspector critical of Iran also has been reassigned. This is what passes for a watchdog agency of the U.N. Your tax dollars at work.

Rep. Peter Hoekstra, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has written a letter to IAEA Director General Mohammed El Baradei about this and related issues. ElBaradei, I think it fair to say, is no friend of the Bush administration and, really, no friend of the United States.