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U.N. Invites Iran to Syria Talks, Raising Objections From the U.S.

The announcement by Ban Ki-moon , the United Nations secretary general, that he had invited Iran to a peace conference to end the war in Syria drew strong objections on Sunday from American officials, who suggested that Iran had not met all the conditions for attending and that the invitation might need to be withdrawn. At the heart of the dispute is whether Iran has accepted the terms of the talks, which begin Wednesday in Montreux, Switzerland: to establish “by mutual consent” a transitional body to govern Syria. Mr. Ban said he had been privately assured that Iranian officials “welcome” those rules and that they had pledged to play “a positive and constructive role.” American officials said they had been in regular communication with the United Nations over the requirements Iran would need to meet to be invited, but they appeared to have been caught off guard by Mr. […]

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Opposition threatens to pull out of Syria talks

Syrian refugee children gather around a fire near their makeshift tents in central Ankara ©Reuters Syrian refugee children in Turkey Syria ’s main political opposition has threatened to withdraw from international peace talks aimed at bringing an end to the three-year long civil war unless an invitation to Iran to join the talks is rescinded. Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the UN, on Sunday caused uproar after inviting Iran, President Bashar al-Assad’s main backer, to join the talks – known as Geneva II – that are planned to start on Wednesday. But Mr Ban said he had received reassurances from Tehran that it would play a “constructive and positive role”. Washington has said it is opposed to Iran attending the Syria talks unless it abides by the so-called Geneva communiqué signed in 2012, which calls for a “Syrian-led political process leading to a transition that meets the legitimate aspirations […]

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Powers and Iran to activate landmark nuclear deal after IAEA nod

World powers and Iran are due to start implementing a landmark deal on Monday curbing Tehran’s nuclear program, amid hopes that it will pave the way for a broad settlement of a decade-old standoff and ease fears of a new Middle East war. If, as expected, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog confirms in the morning that Iran is meeting its end of the agreement, the European Union and the United States will later in the day suspend some economic sanctions in return. The mutual concessions are scheduled to last six months, during which time six powers – the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – aim to negotiate a final accord defining the permissible scope of Iran’s nuclear activity. Western governments want such an agreement to lay to rest their concerns that Iran could produce an atomic weapon. Tehran is seeking an end to […]

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A look at the deal between Iran, world powers

Iran on Monday cut the connection to centrifuges enriching uranium at one of its nuclear facilities, beginning the implementation of its deal with six world powers. Here’s a look at the terms of the deal, as recently announced by the White House: — What Iran has committed to do: -Halt production of near 20 percent enriched uranium and disable the centrifuge process used to produce it. -Start neutralizing its near 20 percent enriched uranium stockpile. -Refrain from enriching uranium in nearly half of the installed centrifuges at its Natanz site and three-quarters of installed centrifuges at its Fordow site. -Limit centrifuge production to what’s needed to replace damaged machines. -Refrain from building additional enrichment facilities or advancing research and development of enrichment. -Refrain from commissioning, fueling or adding reactor components to its Arak reactor, and halt the production and additional testing of fuel for the reactor. -Refrain from building […]

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Iran Likely to Spend Oil Funds on Aircraft, Car Parts, Says Deputy Oil Minister

Iranian energy officials sketched out their vision of an economic détente with the West—promising a revamp of the energy sector and financial benefits for companies willing to re-engage with the Islamic Republic. On the eve of a temporary easing of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, an Iranian deputy oil minister said Tehran was likely to spend billions of dollars in soon-to-be-unfrozen oil proceeds on buying a wide range of goods from U.S. and European companies. A separate oil official, involved in drafting contracts for exploiting Iran’s energy reserves, said Tehran was soliciting feedback from Western oil firms about how to restructure those contracts in a way that would draw more global interest. Six Western powers have agreed to temporarily ease some sanctions, allowing Iran to buy Western goods such as cars, airplane parts and precious metals and to sell products including petrochemicals, among other measures. The deal will […]

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Iran's interim nuclear deal to take effect

UN inspectors visited Iran’s Arak heavy water production plant last month An interim deal on Iran’s nuclear programme is due to enter into force in a few hours’ time. The process will begin with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, confirming that Tehran has curbed its high-level uranium enrichment. This should pave the way for partial suspension of EU and US sanctions. It is expected that by the end of the day Iran should be able to resume petrochemical exports and trade in gold, worth billions of dollars. The interim deal was agreed in November during talks with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – US, Russia, China, France and Britain – plus Germany. The West accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, but Tehran denies the claim, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran’s interim nuclear deal to take effect

UN inspectors visited Iran’s Arak heavy water production plant last month An interim deal on Iran’s nuclear programme is due to enter into force in a few hours’ time. The process will begin with the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, confirming that Tehran has curbed its high-level uranium enrichment. This should pave the way for partial suspension of EU and US sanctions. It is expected that by the end of the day Iran should be able to resume petrochemical exports and trade in gold, worth billions of dollars. The interim deal was agreed in November during talks with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – US, Russia, China, France and Britain – plus Germany. The West accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, but Tehran denies the claim, […]

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Iran looking at exporting natural gas to India via deep sea

Sunanda Pushkar Tharoor was found dead in a Delhi hotel on Friday night. Follow us for the latest updates on the case. The Congress vice-president must rethink his speeches. He needs to bring these down to the level of the common man if he wants to make any impact. In 1947, one of the wealthiest businessmen in Calcutta, Adinath Sen, welcomed a young bride into his home. Given how rich and well-respected Sen was, to be his daughter in-law must have been something of a coup, even though there was gossip about how Sen junior was a party boy inclined to both alcohol and […] Its net revenue stood at Rs 1.03 lakh crore vs estimate Of Rs 1.04 lakh crore. The company’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation stood at Rs 7,622 crore, higher than the estimate of Rs 7,420 crore. Without […]

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Iraq Again Uses Sunni Tribesmen in Militant War

At a command center in western Anbar Province, Iraqi military officials are handing out guns and cash to local Sunni tribal fighters who are battling militants for control of Iraq’s largest province. The United States, at the same time, is rushing shipments of small arms and ammunition to the Iraqi government and urging the Iraqis to pass the weapons on to the tribes. As Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki struggles to put down an insurgency led by militants affiliated with Al Qaeda, he has embraced the same strategy the Americans used in 2007, one that has been attempted with varying degrees of success by the authorities here for nearly a century: paying and arming […]

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Iraqi forces face resistance in trying to push last of al-Qaeda affiliates out of Ramadi

Iraqi forces faced fierce resistance as they launched an offensive Sunday to vanquish pockets of al-Qaeda-linked militants in the city of Ramadi, underscoring the resilience of insurgents, who have also dug in further east in Fallujah. With the Iraqi armed forces lacking expertise and equipment, the government’s struggle to secure the key cities has stoked concerns that the unrest will spread. A Super Scooper firefighting plane makes a water drop on the Colby Fire in Azusa, California January 16, 2014. The blaze broke out about an hour before sunrise in the Angeles National Forest north of Glendora and quickly spread to 1700 acres. Glendora is located about 40 miles (64 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, near the southern edge of the Angeles National Forest. REUTERS/Jonathan Alcorn (UNITED STATES – Tags: DISASTER ENVIRONMENT TRANSPORT) In an unnerving sign, Baghdad was put on lockdown Saturday night amid a […]

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