Month: April 2015

Women sitting in a car flash the ‘V for Victory’ sign as they celebrate on Valiasr street in northern Tehran Iran has heralded a “historic” nuclear deal as just the “first step” towards a new, less hostile relationship with the west as cheering crowds thronged the streets of Tehran and opponents scrambled to respond to the country’s most promising thaw with the US since the 1979 hostage crisis. President Hassan Rouhani signalled that the draft agreement between Iran and six world powers — the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany — would go beyond the nuclear issue, saying he hoped to see “the end of tensions” with hostile countries, in a clear reference to the US. Draft terms brokered through 18 months of painstaking diplomacy — and eight days of marathon talks in Lausanne — potentially pave the way for Iran’s return to the international fold, with curbs […]

Click here to view full article at www.ft.com

Highlights of the Iran deal View Graphic Menachem Begin was the terrorist leader of Irgun in 1948 at Israeli statehood – responsible for terrorism against the British and against Arabs (e.g. the slaughter of over 100 peaceful Arab villagers at Deir Yassin). But later he became Prime Minister of Israel and had the sense to make peace with Egypt in 1979 when Sadat offered peace. That removed the major threat to Israel’s existance. Peace makers Sadat and later Israeli PM Rabin were assassinated by their own people. But post Arafat in 2002 Saudi Arabia got all the Arab countries to call for peace with Israel based on 1967 borders, repeated in 2007. Fatah returned to the Oslo accords, formally recognizing Israel and renouncing violence.   Israeli Prime Minister Olmert offered a deal that gave Israel more – keeping the settlements in E Jerusalem and along the border but withdrawing […]

Click here to view full article at www.washingtonpost.com

Photo President Obama, left, with King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Secretary of State John Kerry in Riyadh in January after the death of King Abdullah. Credit Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press CAIRO — Almost as soon as he had announced a nuclear deal with Iran , President Obama called King Salman of Saudi Arabia to reassure him of America’s “enduring friendship.” Returning the courtesy, King Salman, who is Iran ’s chief regional rival, responded that he hoped the deal would “reinforce the stability and security of the region and the world,” the Saudi Press Agency reported on Friday. But the picture on the ground was not so harmonious. As Tehran and its clients around the Arab world celebrated the accord as a triumph of Iranian resolve, Saudi Arabia and its allies declared that the agreement had only reinforced their determination to push back against Iranian influence, with or without Washington. […]

Click here to view full article at www.nytimes.com

Photo Hundreds welcomed Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on his return to Tehran on Friday, a day after a nuclear agreement was announced in Switzerland. Credit Ebrahim Noroozi/Associated Press TEHRAN — As word made its way around the globe that an understanding had been reached with the United States and other powers to limit Iran’s nuclear program , Iranians themselves greeted the news with optimism and skepticism on Friday. While the political climate remained uncertain, the government was allowed to promote the deal at Friday Prayer, a sign that the plan was broadly supported by Iran ’s establishment. In a nationally televised speech on Friday, Iran’s moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, praised the deal as a development that “benefits everybody.” Answering some Western critics who question Tehran’s credibility, he pledged that his country would keep its end of the bargain. “Any promise that we made and any promise that we will […]

Click here to view full article at www.nytimes.com

Oil prices fell Thursday on the prospect that agreement on a nuclear deal with Iran would result in restrictions on Iranian exports being lifted, adding to a glut on world markets. But those sanctions aren’t the only impediment for Western oil companies seeking to do business in Iran. Another looming question is whether Tehran will make deals with enough profit potential for outsiders to make it worth their while, especially at a time of weak prices. If the framework nuclear deal reached Thursday leads to an eventual easing of restrictions on doing business in Iran, the country’s oil sector would be very alluring. The Islamic Republic holds nearly 10% of the world’s crude oil reserves, putting it fourth behind Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Canada. The industry, however, has been plagued by mismanagement and starved of investment for at least a decade. Iran’s oil fields are old and increasingly technologically […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com

The Pentagon has upgraded its Massive Ordnance Penetrator, shown here in a 2007 version, as talks were progressing in recent months on Iran’s nuclear program. Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON—The Pentagon has upgraded and tested the largest bunker-buster bomb in the U.S. arsenal, senior U.S. officials said, readying a weapon that could destroy or disable Iran’s most heavily fortified nuclear facilities should a nuclear deal fall apart and the White House decide to take military action. Even while the Obama administration was pursuing a diplomatic agreement with Iran to rein in its nuclear program, the Pentagon was readying the improvements to one of its most destructive conventional weapons, including electronic countermeasures to prevent an adversary from jamming its guidance systems. “The Pentagon continues to be focused on being able to provide military options for Iran if needed,” a senior U.S. official said. “We have not taken our eyes off the […]

Click here to view full article at www.wsj.com