Libya Protest Turns Deadly as Militias Open Fire
CAIRO — Dozens of people were killed in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on Friday after militiamen opened fire on unarmed protesters, setting off some of the worst violence in the Continue Reading
Obama Calls for Patience in Iran Talks
WASHINGTON — President Obama made a vigorous appeal to Congress on Thursday to give breathing space to his efforts to forge a nuclear deal with Iran, and the prospects for an interim agreement may have improved with the release of a report by international inspectors who said that for the first time in years, they saw evidence that the Iranians have put the brakes on their nuclear expansion. The inspectors, from the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that very few new advanced centrifuges had been installed since President Hassan Rouhani of Iran took office in June, promising a new start with the West, and that little significant progress has been made on the construction of a new nuclear reactor, which became a point of contention in negotiations in Geneva last week. The slowdown, according to diplomats familiar with the Iranian work, was clearly political, not driven by technical problems. […]
Iran FM hopeful on next round of nuclear talks
AP Photo TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran’s foreign minister says he is hopeful ahead of next week’s negotiations with world powers and reiterated Tehran’s demand for recognition of what it calls its “nuclear rights.” Talks between world powers and Iran are set to resume on Wednesday in Geneva after failing to strike an accord last weekend. Both Iran and the United States have blamed each other for the failure to reach agreement to limit Tehran’s uranium enrichment in exchange for an easing of Western sanctions. Mohammad Javad Zarif says in comments carried by the semi-official Fars news agency on Friday that there is no chance for the upcoming round of talks to succeed if the West ignores Iran’s demand for formal recognition of its right to enrich uranium. Iran denies it’s pursuing a nuclear weapon. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be […]
New Chinese Panel Said to Oversee Domestic Security and Foreign Policy
BEIJING — China’s new national security committee is mainly based on the Washington model. It will put at the disposal of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, a highly empowered group of security experts who can work the levers of the country’s vast security apparatus — and presumably respond more nimbly than the country’s multilayered party, police and military bureaucracies have been known to do. But the Chinese body, which was announced at the conclusion of a party meeting this week, will apparently differ from the American National Security Council in one crucial aspect: The Chinese version will have dual duties with responsibility over domestic security as well as foreign policy, Chinese experts say. That means the new body will deal with cybersecurity as well as the unrest in China’s Tibet and Xinjiang regions, where resistance against the Han majority population is continuing, according to Shi Yinhong, a professor of […]
Insight: Russia fears return of fighters waging jihad in Syria
NOVOSASITLI, Russia (Reuters) – A scrawny 15-year-old this summer became the first from his deeply religious Muslim village in Russia’s southern Dagestan province to die fighting alongside rebels in Syria. Some regard him as a martyr for joining the rebels in the fight against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad who is supported by Russia. Moscow now fears that hundreds of Russian-born militants it says are fighting in Syria will return experienced in warfare to join an insurgency in Dagestan and its other North Caucasus provinces by militants fighting for an Islamic state. Violence in the region claims lives almost daily. Fifteen men from Novosasitli alone have died in shootouts with Russian forces in the last four years, locals say. Analysts say fighters could also try to strike during the 2014 Winter Olympics in February in nearby Sochi. President Vladimir Putin, who has staked his reputation on the Games, has said […]
Iran foreign minister blames West for nuclear talks breakdown
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hit back at U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry late on Tuesday and blamed divisions between Western powers for the failure of talks over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program in Geneva last week. Responding to remarks by Kerry in Abu Dhabi on Monday, Zarif said that blaming Iran only served to undermine confidence in the negotiations which are set for another round on November 20. The United States, the European Union and Iran worked intensively together for months on a proposal to help end the 10-year stand-off over Iran’s nuclear program, diplomats said, but talks in Geneva between Tehran and six world powers to agree the deal ended on Saturday without agreement. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris could not accept a "fool’s game" – in other words, a weak deal with Iran. Diplomats from other Western nations at first […]
Iran’s Full Return to Oil Market Remains Perilous, Barclays Says
The breakdown of negotiations between the U.S. and world powers highlights how difficult it will be for Iran to make a full return as an oil exporter in the near future, according to Barclays Plc. The six-nation negotiating group in Geneva didn’t agree during Nov. 9 talks with Iran on alterations to its nuclear program that would allow financial sanctions to be eased. Even had the talks been more successful, the U.S. Congress has little appetite to lift measures banning imports of Iranian crude and is considered proposals to tighten sanctions further, Miswin Mahesh, a London-based commodities analyst at Barclays, said today in an e-mailed report. “Given the constellation of forces that could stymie a grand bargain, we contend that the path to Iran’s full return to the oil market remains quite perilous,” Mahesh said. The failure of the talks prompted December Brent crude futures to climb 1.2 percent […]
Iran Talks Face Resistance in U.S. Congress
WASHINGTON — After having come tantalizingly close over the weekend to an agreement to freeze Iran’s nuclear program , the Obama administration is gingerly weighing a threat to the talks potentially more troublesome than the opaque leadership in Tehran: Congress. Secretary of State John Kerry will meet behind closed doors on Wednesday afternoon with members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to try to head off a new round of stiff sanctions on Iran that administration officials fear could derail the talks in Geneva. In addition, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.; Mr. Kerry; Wendy R. Sherman, the administration’s chief negotiator; and David S. Cohen, under secretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, are scheduled to brief Senate Democratic leaders that day in a full-court press to win backing of the diplomatic initiative. But the administration is running headlong into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu […]
Iran is negotiating with the wrong US officials
John Kerry To understand the dynamics involved in U.S. policy on Iran, it is important to mark the difference between direct and indirect economic sanctions. Direct sanctions bar specific individuals and companies from conducting international trade, using the global banking system or traveling abroad and in some cases result in asset freezes. Most direct sanctions are established and enforced by executive order, and the president has some leeway in easing these sanctions. However, they are not the sanctions that are allegedly crippling Iran’s economy. Indirect sanctions, on the other hand, are based in U.S. law and cannot easily be offered up as bargaining chips in the current negotiations. These sanctions are sometimes called business-choice sanctions or extraterritorial sanctions. They are meant to affect Iran’s overall economy rather than punish or stop illicit proliferation activities, which is the focus of direct sanctions. Indirect sanctions work by offering firms a choice […]
Iran Says It Has Agreed to ‘Road Map’ With U.N. Agency on Nuclear Inspections
PARIS — The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday that Iran had agreed to resolve all outstanding issues with the agency and would allow international inspectors “managed access” to two important nuclear facilities that have not been regularly viewed. But the promise of wider scrutiny did not extend to one of the most contentious locations: the Parchin military site southwest of Tehran. Inspectors from the agency, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, have been trying for months to see selected areas of that site, where they suspect that Iran at one time tested triggering devices for nuclear weapons. “This is an important step forward to start with, but much more needs to be done,” Yukiya Amano, the director general of the agency, told reporters in Tehran. The agreement came on the heels of talks between Iran and six world powers over Iran’s nuclear program. Those talks ended without an […]
Iran Agrees to Give UN Monitors Broader Inspection Powers
By Jonathan Tirone – 2013-11-11T13:58:53Z Iran and United Nations atomic inspectors signed their first accord in six years, giving the monitors broader access to nuclear facilities in the Persian Gulf country. The International Atomic Energy Agency and Iran agreed “to implement practical measures” aiding inspections, agency director Yukiya Amano said at a Tehran briefing broadcast by Iran’s Press TV. Included in the accord is access to Iran’s largest uranium mine, said Ali Akbar Salehi , who heads the Islamic republic’s atomic program. The pact followed three days of talks in Geneva between Iran and world powers that failed to clinch a broader accord to relieve international sanctions on Iran in exchange for Iranian restrictions on its nuclear program. The IAEA’s decade-long investigation into alleged past nuclear-weapons work has underpinned international concerns about a program that has cast the specter of war and proliferation across the Middle East . Iran […]
Obama faces worry at home, abroad over Iran talks
AP Photo WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s hopes for a nuclear deal with Iran now depend in part on his ability to keep a lid on both hard-liners on Capitol Hill and anxious allies abroad, including Israel, the Persian Gulf states and even France. Each of the wary parties is guided in some measure by domestic political interests. But they also share concerns that Obama may want a breakthrough with Iran so badly that he would be willing to accept a deal that prematurely eases economic pressure on Iran and gives the Islamic republic space to pursue a nuclear weapon. “All of us want to see diplomacy,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told NBC News. “But we’re also concerned about an administration that seems really ready to jump into the arms of folks and potentially deal away some of the leverage we have.” Indeed, there’s little question Obama desires […]
Iraq keeps eye on Kurd-jihadist battle in Syria
A Syrian Kurdish policeman patrols the border between Syria and Iraq, on October 14, 2013 Baghdad (AFP) – As the latest jihadist-Kurdish military showdown eases in northeast Syria, Baghdad is keeping a close watch on a battle which threatens even greater instability in Iraq. Kurdish forces and Al-Qaeda-linked groups have for weeks fought over territory, with the Kurds taking over a key border point late last month. But with the likelihood of more fighting to follow, Baghdad is worried of jihadists securing a wider corridor between eastern Syria and western Iraq. “This border point is significant for both Al-Qaeda, and the (Syrian) Kurds,” said Ali al-Haidari, a Baghdad-based security analyst. “At the same time, it threatens the Iraqi government’s security as well.” “For Al-Qaeda, it is a border point through which they smuggle explosives, fighters and suicide bombers.” Iraq and Syria share a 600-kilometre (375-mile) border, and jihadists and […]
Kerry says U.S. not in race to complete Iran talks
ABU DHABI (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday Washington was not engaged in a race to complete talks with Iran on its nuclear program and vowed to defend Washington’s regional allies against any threats. Speaking at a news conference with United Arab Emirates (UAE) Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan in Abu Dhabi, Kerry also praised the Syrian opposition’s decision to participate in a proposed peace conference as "a big step forward". "This is not a race to complete just any agreement," Kerry said, adding: "Through diplomacy we have an absolute responsibility to pursue an agreement." Marathon talks between six major world powers – the United States, Russia, China, Britain, Germany and France – and Iran on Saturday ended without agreement and the sides arranged to meet again on November 20. While saying that an agreement with Iran was expected within months, Kerry […]
Iran backed out of nuclear deal – Kerry
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi leaves the Geneva talks (9 November 2013) 11 November 2013 Last updated at 10:12 A senior US official reportedly said the deal was “too tough” for the Iranians US Secretary of State John Kerry has said Iran backed out of a deal on its nuclear programme during talks with world powers in Geneva on Saturday. Amid reports that France’s reservations scuppered an agreement, Mr Kerry told reporters in Abu Dhabi: “The French signed off on it, we signed off on it.” Iran had been unable to accept the deal “at that particular moment”, he added. Mr Kerry said he hoped in the next few months they could “find an agreement that meets everyone’s standards”. Representatives from Iran and the so-called P5+1 – the US, UK, France, Russia and China plus Germany – will meet again on 20 November. Powers ‘unified’ Some reports said […]
Iran Faces Monitoring Test After Failing to Sway Powers
Iran faces a new test with United Nations monitors after failing to convince world powers the time was right to reduce tension over its nuclear work. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano led a delegation of inspectors flying to Tehran for negotiations today aimed at widening access to people and places connected with Iran’s nuclear work. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said his country is ready to improve cooperation. “Negotiations with the IAEA will continue in Tehran and will be finalized with Amano,” Zarif told ISNA news agency after the Geneva talks. “Our relationship with the agency should be on a serious basis of finalizing all issues. We are prepared to do everything for the agency so that they can do their technical work.” Zarif spoke after three days of discussions in the Swiss city with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov […]
Iranian deputy minister shot dead
An unidentified attacker shot dead an Iranian deputy minister of industry in Tehran on Sunday, the state news agency IRNA reported, in what appeared the first reported killing of a senior central government official in years. Safdar Rahmat Abadi was shot in the head and chest as he got into his car in the east of the capital, IRNA said, quoting witnesses as saying the attack occurred at about 7:50 p.m local time. “Investigations show that two shots were fired from inside the vehicle,” the agency quoted a police official as saying. “That two shells were found inside the car shows a strong likelihood that the assailant was inside the car and in conversation with Mr Abadi. There was no sign of struggle at the scene of the killing.” The student news agency ISNA said a special homicide investigator and criminal prosecutor were at the scene. It cited a […]
Pirates Hijack Tanker Near Singapore in Second Attack in a Month
Pirates hijacked a second tanker in a month off the Malaysian coast near Singapore, Asia’s biggest oil-trading hub, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Ten pirates armed with guns and knives boarded a tanker about 7.3 nautical miles (13.5 kilometers) west of Malaysia’s Pulau Kukup in the Strait of Malacca , forcing the crew to transfer gasoil from the vessel to another ship, the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Center said in a Nov. 7 incident report on its website. The attack was about 34 miles west of Singapore, according to the co-ordinates recorded by the agency. The U.S. Energy Information Administration identifies the Malacca Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean with the South China Sea and Pacific Ocean, as one of the world’s two “most strategic chokepoints” for oil trade along with the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf. It is the shortest sea route between the Middle East […]
Iran and world powers near to signing historic nuclear deal
USA’s Secretary of State John Kerry aarives in Geneva ©Getty John Kerry arrives in Geneva Iran and six world powers are scrambling to sign a historic interim deal to rein in the Iranian nuclear programme, even as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu tries to scupper the agreement. In what would be the first substantive pact on the issue in many years, foreign ministers from the US, Britain, France and Germany converged on Geneva in a last-minute move to sign a preliminary deal with Iran. Diplomats said the talks had made considerable progress and indicated that an agreement could be reached later on Friday or Saturday, although they stressed that there were still some obstacles. However, even before a deal was announced in Geneva, Mr Netanyahu said Israel “utterly rejects” the agreement being discussed and launched a withering attack of the diplomatic efforts. “Israel is not obliged by this agreement […]
Iran Talks Strain Mideast Alliances
Israel tried to stave off an emerging agreement between Iran and global powers aimed at preventing Tehran from attaining a nuclear weapon, underlining the chasm that has opened up between the Obama administration and its closest Middle East allies over how to deal with their nemesis. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu railed against the expected accord in particularly harsh terms Friday, calling on Western allies to “reconsider” after three meetings in two days with Secretary of State John Kerry . President Barack Obama called the Israeli leader in an attempt to calm the furor. “The deal that is being discussed in Geneva right now is a bad deal,” Mr. Netanyahu said in Tel Aviv after meeting with Mr. Kerry. “Iran isn’t even required to take apart even one centrifuge, but the international community is relieving sanctions on Iran.…I urged Secretary Kerry not to rush to sign—to wait, to reconsider. […]
Netanyahu Attack on Iran Deal Threatens Rift With U.S.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s rejection of a potential agreement on Iran’s nuclear program , which he denounced as a “very bad deal,” threatens to ignite the most serious U.S.- Israel dispute in years. His public criticism follows a series of meetings on the topic with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry , who flew to Geneva today to join talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. They’re seeking to nail down the first step in an accord that would relieve some sanctions against Iran if it curtails certain nuclear activities. The clash over Iran negotiations follows an effort by President Barack Obama to reassure Netanyahu of his support for Israel, including a trip there in March, after a series of disputes. Kerry’s talks with Netanyahu have sought to avoid a blanket rejection of initial moves toward a nuclear pact, which could fuel opponents in the U.S. […]
Bombings, shootings in Iraq kill 19 people
AP Photo BAGHDAD (AP) — A bomb exploded on a busy street filled with shoppers in northern Iraq, part of a series of attacks that killed at least 19 people Friday, officials said, the latest in a wave of violence roiling the country. The explosion struck a commercial street in Mosul, killing 12 people and wounding 30, police said. Hassan Mahmoud, the owner of an ice cream shop along the street, said he was thrown on the ground by the powerful explosion. “I went outside my shop to see pieces of flesh scattered all around the place with wounded people screaming for help,” Mahmoud said. “The scene was horrific.” Earlier Friday, a bomb exploded just after Friday prayers as Sunni worshippers left the Ali Bin Abi Talib mosque in Baghdad’s western Shurta district. A second bomb, planted further down the street, exploded seconds later as worshippers tried to flee […]
Israel rejects mooted nuclear deal with Iran
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel utterly rejects a mooted world powers deal with Iran aimed at ending a long-running row over its nuclear ambitions and will not be bound by such an accord, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Friday. Speaking as headed into a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Netanyahu told reporters that Iran had got "the deal of the century". "Israel utterly rejects it and what I am saying is shared by many in the region, whether or not they express that publicly. Israel is not obliged by this agreement and Israel will do everything it needs to do to defend itself and the security of its people," he said. Israel has repeatedly warned that it might strike Iran if it did not halt its nuclear program, accusing Tehran of seeking to build atomic weapons. Iran says its various nuclear facilities are geared to civilian […]
Iran Nuclear Deal Closer as Kerry Set to Arrive in Geneva
Iran and world powers edged closer to breaking the decade-long stalemate over the Islamic republic’s nuclear program, saying an initial accord is possible when they convene for a second day of negotiations in Geneva. Secretary of State John Kerry plans to make a visit to the Swiss city today in an effort to help narrow differences in the talks, according to a U.S. official who asked not to be identified because the plans weren’t public. A framework has been agreed on and negotiators will try to fill in details at today’s session, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview. “Our job now is to test how serious they are about resolving this conflict, or this dispute, through peaceful means, through diplomacy,” President Barack Obama said yesterday in an interview with NBC News. “We don’t have to trust them. What we have to do is to make […]
Iran Nuclear Deal Expected as Early as Friday
GENEVA—Iran and world powers expect to announce an initial deal as early as Friday to curb Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for an easing of sanctions, a step that would mark the first breakthrough in a decade to blunt the threat of Tehran developing nuclear weapons. Secretary of State John Kerry will fly to Geneva on Friday to complete the deal, the State Department said. President Barack Obama described the emerging agreement Thursday in an interview with NBC News, saying that if Iran doesn’t live up to its end, “we can crank that dial back up” on sanctions. The two sides were jointly preparing a draft agreement ahead of a likely announcement, said Iranian and Western officials, although the plan could still unravel. The White House already faces major opposition both from its allies in the Middle East and members of Congress. Israel, in particular, has been deeply skeptical. […]
The real challenge for US-Iran talks lies at home
A year ago, the prospect of a US-Iranian nuclear settlement seemed very distant. Now, top negotiators from Iran, the US and other major powers are convening in Geneva , and may be on the verge of concluding a deal this week over Iran’s nuclear programme. All signs point to a seriousness of purpose and a determination to get to an agreement. While the differences dividing Iran and the US are significant, the more difficult negotiations may well be the one each side faces at home. Most major international negotiations are, as Robert Putnam, the Harvard political scientist, put it, a two-level game; one set of negotiations take place at the table between the parties and another set back home among different domestic constituencies. The Iran nuclear negotiations are no different, and their success will depend as much on how domestic forces align within the US and Iran as on […]
Pakistan ‘ready to deliver nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia’
Intelligence sources say Pakistan-made nuclear weapons ready for delivery to Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to counter Iran’s atomic programme, but Islamabad says claims ‘baseless’ Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also dismissed the allegations as “baseless”, as did General Hamid Gul, a former head of the ISI intelligence service. Saudi officials have long told their American allies that they planned to obtain atomic weapons if Iran went nuclear. The latest reports suggests they could be ready even sooner. Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, told a conference in Sweden last month that if Iran got the bomb, “the Saudis will not wait one month. They already paid for the bomb, they will go to Pakistan and bring what they need to bring”. Pakistan declared itself as a nuclear armed state in 1998 with its first test. It has never signed up non-proliferation agreements and has […]
Pakistan 'ready to deliver nuclear weapons to Saudi Arabia'
Intelligence sources say Pakistan-made nuclear weapons ready for delivery to Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to counter Iran’s atomic programme, but Islamabad says claims ‘baseless’ Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs also dismissed the allegations as “baseless”, as did General Hamid Gul, a former head of the ISI intelligence service. Saudi officials have long told their American allies that they planned to obtain atomic weapons if Iran went nuclear. The latest reports suggests they could be ready even sooner. Amos Yadlin, a former head of Israeli military intelligence, told a conference in Sweden last month that if Iran got the bomb, “the Saudis will not wait one month. They already paid for the bomb, they will go to Pakistan and bring what they need to bring”. Pakistan declared itself as a nuclear armed state in 1998 with its first test. It has never signed up non-proliferation agreements and has […]
Iran nuclear issue not insoluble, says FM Javad Zarif
Iranian technicians outside the building housing the reactor of Bushehr nuclear power plant. File photo 7 November 2013 Last updated at 09:26 The West suspects Iran’s programme is arms production – a charge Iran denies Iran’s foreign minister has expressed cautious optimism about upcoming talks on Iran’s nuclear programme, saying the issue is “not insoluble”. World powers and Iran are due to meet in Geneva later on Thursday for a further round of discussions. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the talks would be “highly laboured” but the aim was to “cross over the wall of distrust” created by Western policies. The West suspects Iran of seeking to build nuclear weapons. Tehran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes. ‘First step’ Analysis The air in Geneva is clear. So is the lake. But, for the next two days, everything else negotiators face in this city may be cloudy, muddy, […]
U.S. Will Ease Sanctions if Iran Halts Nuclear Program, Official Says
GENEVA — On the eve of a new round of talks between world powers and Iran, a senior Obama administration official said Wednesday that the United States was prepared to offer Iran limited relief from economic sanctions if Tehran agreed to halt its nuclear program temporarily and reversed part of it. The official said that the suspension of Iran’s nuclear efforts, perhaps for six months, would give negotiators time to pursue a comprehensive and far more challenging agreement. “Put simply, what we’re looking for now is a first phase, a first step, an initial understanding that stops Iran’s nuclear program from moving forward for the first time in decades and that potentially rolls part of it back,” the official told reporters. The long-stymied talks with Iran were re-energized after Hassan Rouhani, the new Iranian president, took office in August and declared that he wanted to resolve longstanding concerns about […]
US seeks ‘first step’ nuclear deal with Iran
Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran ©AP The reactor building of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, outside the southern city of Bushehr, Iran The US is looking to negotiate a “first step” deal with Iran which would halt parts of its nuclear programme in return for modest suspension of sanctions, a senior US official said on Wednesday ahead of a crucial new round of talks . The initial agreement could last for six months and would “put time on the clock” in order to allow for a more detailed negotiation about Iran’s nuclear programme. The administration official also warned that any effort by the US Congress to impose new sanctions on Iran could scupper the negotiations. “For the first time, Iran appears to be committed to moving this negotiating process forward quickly,” the US official said. “We do not see them using the negotiating process to buy time.” US officials […]
First-step Deal on Curbing Iran’s Nuclear Program Takes Shape
GENEVA—U.S. and Iranian officials said a confidence-building deal on curbing Tehran’s nuclear activities is within reach ahead of a new round of negotiations in Geneva starting Thursday. A senior U.S. official said weeks of detailed discussions between Iran, the U.S. and other world powers have shaped a “first-step” deal that could be forged this week. It would have Iran pause its nuclear program—probably for six months—in return for a suspension of some Western sanctions. The deal would put “additional time on the clock” for the two sides to pursue a comprehensive solution to the decadelong conflict over suspicions that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb, the official said on Wednesday. “For the first time, we aren’t seeing them use this negotiating process simply to buy time,” the official said of Iran. “We are coming to understand each other in terms of what the equation would look like […]
First-step Deal on Curbing Iran's Nuclear Program Takes Shape
GENEVA—U.S. and Iranian officials said a confidence-building deal on curbing Tehran’s nuclear activities is within reach ahead of a new round of negotiations in Geneva starting Thursday. A senior U.S. official said weeks of detailed discussions between Iran, the U.S. and other world powers have shaped a “first-step” deal that could be forged this week. It would have Iran pause its nuclear program—probably for six months—in return for a suspension of some Western sanctions. The deal would put “additional time on the clock” for the two sides to pursue a comprehensive solution to the decadelong conflict over suspicions that Iran is trying to develop a nuclear bomb, the official said on Wednesday. “For the first time, we aren’t seeing them use this negotiating process simply to buy time,” the official said of Iran. “We are coming to understand each other in terms of what the equation would look like […]
U.S.-Iran Thaw Grew From Years Of Behind-the-Scenes Talks
WASHINGTON—The White House heralded President Barack Obama ‘s phone call with Iranian counterpart Hasan Rouhani earlier this fall as a foreign-policy milestone born of a rush of last-minute diplomacy. But the historic conversation was more intricately choreographed than previously disclosed. Top National Security Council officials began planting the seeds for such an exchange months earlier—holding a series of secret meetings and telephone calls and convening an assortment of Arab monarchs, Iranian exiles and former U.S. diplomats to clandestinely ferry messages between Washington and Tehran, according to current and former U.S., Middle Eastern and European officials briefed on the effort. Mr. Obama had empowered the administration’s top Iran specialist, Puneet Talwar, for some time to have direct meetings and phone conversations with Iranian Foreign Ministry officials, those people say. Some of the contacts took place in Oman’s ancient capital, Muscat, U.S. and Middle Eastern officials say, which sits less than […]
Iran Loses Nuclear Leverage as World Ignores Export Drop
Iran ’s new government, pressing for relief from oil sanctions that have squeezed as much as $5 billion from its monthly export revenue, enters nuclear talks today with limited economic leverage. Since the U.S. and European Union imposed sanctions on purchasers of Iranian oil in July 2012, higher production in the U.S. and Iraq and flat demand in Europe have more than offset the loss in world markets of more than 1 million barrels a day in Iranian exports. As U.S. consumers pay $3.23 a gallon for gasoline, almost a dime less than at the start of July 2012, Iran’s economy will contract 1.5 percent this year after shrinking 1.9 percent in 2012, according to International Monetary Fund estimates. “Right now, Iran needs to sell its oil far more than the rest of the world needs to buy it,” Trevor Houser , a partner at the Rhodium Group LLC, […]
Iran says nuclear deal possible this week in Geneva talks
GENEVA (Reuters) – An agreement that would open the door to a resolution of the decade-long nuclear standoff between Iran and six world powers is possible this week if negotiators exert the maximum efforts, Iran’s foreign minister said on Thursday. "If everyone tries their best we may have one," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters after a breakfast meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. "We expect serious negotiations. It’s possible," he said when asked if an agreement was conceivable at Thursday-Friday talks between Iran and the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany. (Reporting by Fredrik Dahl, Justyna Pawlak, Louis Charbonneau)
Iranian prosecutor killed in restive border region
AP Photo TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian media say a state prosecutor has been killed in the restive southeast region near the Pakistani border, where an attack by militants less than two weeks ago killed 14 border guards. Sixteen “rebel” prisoners were later hanged there in reprisal. It was not immediately clear whether the latest killing was linked to the region’s unrest, which includes clashes with drug smugglers and battles with an armed faction that claims to fight on behalf of Iran’s Sunni minority. The semi-official Fars news agency says unknown attackers on Wednesday killed Mousa Nouri, a prosecutor in the town of Zabol near the Pakistan border. Another news agency, ISNA, quoted the region’s judiciary chief, Ebrahim Hamidi, as claiming the slaying was not connected to the October hangings. © 2013 The Associated Press . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. […]
Iranian Minister Says Nuclear Deal Is Possible This Week
PARIS — Two days before negotiations resume in Geneva between Iran and the United States and other Western powers aimed at ending a fight over the disputed Iranian nuclear program, the country’s foreign minister sounded an optimistic note on Tuesday, saying a deal was possible as soon as this week. “I believe it is even possible to reach that agreement this week,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in an interview with France 24, a major television network here, before meeting with the French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius. “But I can only talk for our side,” Mr. Zarif added. “I cannot talk for the other side.” Iran has been on an outreach mission since the June election of Hassan Rouhani, who appears to have made getting rid of painful economic sanctions a centerpiece of his policy. The country now appears willing both to discuss the enforcement of more comprehensive […]
Diplomats Fail to Agree on Details for Syria Peace Talks
GENEVA — Senior diplomats from the United States, Russia and the United Nations failed on Tuesday to agree on a date for convening a long-awaited peace conference aimed at settling the Syria conflict, acknowledging it would not take place this month and possibly not this year. The diplomats adjourned after meetings in Geneva that could not resolve the most basic obstacles: which countries would attend such a conference, who would represent the fractious Syrian opposition and what role — if any — would be played by President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, whose polarizing effects have proved among the most difficult issues to overcome. Lakhdar Brahimi , the United Nations special envoy on Syria, told reporters: “We were hoping that we would be in a position to announce a date today. Unfortunately we are not.” He added, “We are still striving to see if we can have a conference before […]
Iran urges elimination of all nukes ahead of talks
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran’s U.N. ambassador called nuclear weapons the greatest threat to present and future generations on Monday, just days before Tehran resumes talks with six world powers aimed at reining in its suspect nuclear program. Mohammad Khazaee told a meeting of the General Assembly’s disarmament committee that “the total elimination of these inhuman weapons is the only absolute guarantee against their threat or use.” The election of President Hassan Rouhani, viewed as a moderate, has led to a revival of talks in Geneva aimed at allaying Western fears that the real aim of Iran’s nuclear enrichment program is producing nuclear weapons, not nuclear energy and medical isotopes as it claims. For years, Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is purely peaceful, and that it opposes nuclear weapons, but Khazaee’s comments were especially strong. “Before they consume us all together, we must consume them all together,” […]
Shootings, bombings kill 12 in Iraq
President Barack Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki stay in their seats, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, following a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. The prime minister arrived at the White House Friday to personally appeal to President Barack Obama for more U.S. assistance in beating back the bloody insurgency consuming his country. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) BAGHDAD (AP) — A double suicide bombing and other attacks killed 12 people in Iraq on Monday, said officials, while Iraqi legislators passed a law laying the groundwork for next year’s parliamentary elections. Violence has spiked in Iraq since April, with the pace of killing reaching levels unseen since 2008. U.N. figures released last week showed that at least 979 people, mostly civilians, were killed last month alone. The latest attacks came two days after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki returned from a trip to Washington in […]
UN aid chief says 40% of Syrians in need of assistance
Displaced Syrian women and children near Kafer Rouma, ancient ruins used as temporary shelter by those families who have fled from the heavy fighting and shelling in the Idlib province countryside of Syria 5 November 2013 Last updated at 01:46 The number of those needing help has risen by more than 30% since September Some 9.3 million people in Syria – or about 40% of the population – now need outside assistance, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos has said. This figure has risen by 2.5m from the 6.8m total the UN gave in September. The Syria crisis “continues to deteriorate rapidly and inexorably”, Ms Amos told the UN Security Council. Meanwhile, UN-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi is due to hold talks with US and Russian diplomats aimed at paving the way for a Syria peace conference. In Geneva, Mr Brahimi will also meet representatives from the rest of the […]
Heavy gunfire heard in Libya's capital Tripoli
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Heavy shooting from guns and anti-aircraft weapons erupted early on Tuesday in the Libyan capital Tripoli, Reuters witnesses said. The fighting occurred between militias in the eastern Suq al-Juma area, said a militia source with government ties, adding that he had no further information. Reuters reporters in Tripoli could hear intermittent gunfire for three hours. A Facebook website showed what it said were two burned-out cars from the scene of the fighting, though Reuters could not verify its authenticity. An interior ministry official told Reuters he had no information about the shooting. A defense ministry official declined to comment, while no other officials were immediately available. OPEC producer Libya faces chaos and anarchy as the government struggles to rein in militias, gangs and Islamist radicals in a country awash with arms two years after the ouster of former leader Muammar Gaddafi. Suq al-Juma was a center […]
Heavy gunfire heard in Libya’s capital Tripoli
TRIPOLI (Reuters) – Heavy shooting from guns and anti-aircraft weapons erupted early on Tuesday in the Libyan capital Tripoli, Reuters witnesses said. The fighting occurred between militias in the eastern Suq al-Juma area, said a militia source with government ties, adding that he had no further information. Reuters reporters in Tripoli could hear intermittent gunfire for three hours. A Facebook website showed what it said were two burned-out cars from the scene of the fighting, though Reuters could not verify its authenticity. An interior ministry official told Reuters he had no information about the shooting. A defense ministry official declined to comment, while no other officials were immediately available. OPEC producer Libya faces chaos and anarchy as the government struggles to rein in militias, gangs and Islamist radicals in a country awash with arms two years after the ouster of former leader Muammar Gaddafi. Suq al-Juma was a center […]
Deposed Egypt president Mohamed Morsi defiant as trial adjourned
Morsi supporters gather outside Cairo Police Academy on November 4, 2013. Mohamed Morsi and other defendants arrived to the Police Academy, for their trial in the east of Cairo on November 4,2013. Protesters, raised Egypt’s ousted Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi , on Monday defiantly insisted he was the country’s legitimate leader as his trial for inciting violence got off to a raucous start at a heavily-guarded police academy on the outskirts of Cairo. Rejecting the proceedings against him as “cover for a coup”, the former president repeatedly interrupted the presiding judge, who adjourned the hearing when Mr Morsi tried to demand a special trial in accordance with procedures for the impeachment of a president set out in the suspended 2012 constitution. “I am Dr Mohamed Morsi, the president of the republic, and I am present here by force and against my will. The coup is criminal and treasonable,” he […]
Iraq’s pipeline bombings halt oil pumping
Iraq’s pipeline bombings halt oil pumping Page added on November 3, 2013 A major oil pipeline has been bombed in northern Iraq, forcing pumping to be suspended, security officials said. Three blasts went off on Saturday in Nineveh province along the pipeline, which runs to the Turkish port of Ceyhan, but the incident did not cause any casualties. An official with the state-owned North Oil Co in the city of Kirkuk said repair works had already started on the pipeline and oil pumping was expected to resume on Sunday. Rebels frequently attack the pipeline, which carries a significant portion of Iraq’s oil exports to international markets. Growing pressure The Iraqi authorities are under growing pressure after the autonomous Kurdish region in the north of the country said it would build a second oil pipeline to Turkey, a route to Western markets that would bypass national infrastructure. However, Turkish Energy […]
Iraq Leader's Visit Shows Strain With U.S.
WASHINGTON—Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki headed back to Baghdad after a strained visit to Washington that fell short of securing more U.S. military aid and exposed divisions about the causes and cures for rising violence in his country. Mr. Maliki wrapped up his three-day visit Friday with a White House meeting at which President Barack Obama praised the Iraqi leader and said the two countries would step up their efforts to uproot al Qaeda militants expanding their operations across the region. But while Mr. Maliki worked to persuade American leaders to free up more U.S. military aid, leading lawmakers expressed dismay over the Iraqi leader’s repeated insistence that he bore little responsibility for the sectarian violence sweeping his country. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was “extremely disappointed” by his meeting with Mr. Maliki and said the prime minister hurt his case […]
Iraq Leader’s Visit Shows Strain With U.S.
WASHINGTON—Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki headed back to Baghdad after a strained visit to Washington that fell short of securing more U.S. military aid and exposed divisions about the causes and cures for rising violence in his country. Mr. Maliki wrapped up his three-day visit Friday with a White House meeting at which President Barack Obama praised the Iraqi leader and said the two countries would step up their efforts to uproot al Qaeda militants expanding their operations across the region. But while Mr. Maliki worked to persuade American leaders to free up more U.S. military aid, leading lawmakers expressed dismay over the Iraqi leader’s repeated insistence that he bore little responsibility for the sectarian violence sweeping his country. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was “extremely disappointed” by his meeting with Mr. Maliki and said the prime minister hurt his case […]
Surge in Iraqi Violence Reunites Maliki and Obama
WASHINGTON — With violence spiking again in Iraq , fomenting fears of widening instability in the region, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki pressed President Obama on Friday for American help in fighting Qaeda terrorists in his country’s lawless west. Mr. Maliki said the Iraqi government was “mobilizing our people in order to fight Al Qaeda because it’s good for Iraq and the Middle East.” Speaking after a meeting with the president in the Oval Office, Mr. Maliki said he and Mr. Obama had “similar ideas” on counterterrorism priorities, though he did not offer details on any requests for military equipment or other aid. Other Iraqi officials said the government was appealing for a range of aid, including Apache helicopter gunships and Hellfire missiles , as well as more American intelligence and other forms of counterterrorism support, like reconnaissance drones that would be operated by Americans. “Unfortunately, Al Qaeda has […]