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Special Report: ‘Great Satan’ meets ‘Axis of Evil’ and strikes a deal

GENEVA (Reuters) – Saturday night had turned into Sunday morning and four days of talks over Iran’s nuclear program had already gone so far over schedule that the Geneva Intercontinental Hotel had been given over to another event. A black tie charity ball was finishing up and singers with an after party band at a bar above the lobby were crooning out the words to a Johnny Cash song – "I fell into a burning ring of fire" – while weary diplomats in nearby conference rooms were trying to polish off the last touches of an accord. Negotiators emerged complaining that the hotel lobby smelled like beer. At around 2:00 a.m., U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia were brought to a conference room to approve a final text of the agreement which would provide limited relief of sanctions on Iran […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Special Report: 'Great Satan' meets 'Axis of Evil' and strikes a deal

GENEVA (Reuters) – Saturday night had turned into Sunday morning and four days of talks over Iran’s nuclear program had already gone so far over schedule that the Geneva Intercontinental Hotel had been given over to another event. A black tie charity ball was finishing up and singers with an after party band at a bar above the lobby were crooning out the words to a Johnny Cash song – "I fell into a burning ring of fire" – while weary diplomats in nearby conference rooms were trying to polish off the last touches of an accord. Negotiators emerged complaining that the hotel lobby smelled like beer. At around 2:00 a.m., U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia were brought to a conference room to approve a final text of the agreement which would provide limited relief of sanctions on Iran […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Iran Pact Faces Stiff Opposition

LONDON—A groundbreaking deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program faces towering obstacles at home and abroad to becoming a permanent agreement, starting with the U.S. Congress and two of America’s closest allies. The leaders of both the Democratic and Republican parties are threatening to break with President Barack Obama ‘s policy and enact new punitive sanctions on Iran, arguing that the interim deal reached in Geneva on Sunday yields too much to the Islamist regime while asking too little. “The disproportionality of this agreement makes it more likely that Democrats and Republicans will join together and pass additional sanctions when we return in December,” said Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.), an influential member of the Senate Democratic leadership. Such a move could kill the nascent nuclear accord, U.S. and Iranian officials agree, and add to more recent political embarrassments for the White House. Reaching a comprehensive deal with Iran also […]

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Longer-Term Deal With Iran Faces Major Challenges

LONDON — The Obama administration’s successful push for an accord that would temporarily freeze much of Iran’s nuclear program has cast a spotlight on the more formidable challenge it now confronts in trying to roll the program back. For all of the drama of late-night make-or-break talks in Geneva, the deal that Secretary of State John Kerry and his negotiating partners announced early on Sunday was largely a holding action, meant to keep the Iranian nuclear program in check for six months while negotiators pursue a far tougher and more lasting agreement. By itself, the interim pact does not foreclose either side’s main options or require many irreversible actions — which was why the two sides were able to come to terms on it. That was also a reason for the sharp negative reaction the deal elicited on Sunday from Israel, an American ally that is deeply suspicious of […]

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Sunnis close Iraqi capital mosques in protest

Iraqi Sunni religious leaders said Saturday they closed the sect’s mosques in Baghdad indefinitely to protest attacks targeting clerics and worshippers, highlighting the country’s deepening sectarian rift. The closures came as violence across the country killed 12 people Saturday. Sheik Mustafa al-Bayati, a member of a council of senior Sunni scholars that issue religious edicts, said the decision taken Thursday came into effect Saturday. He said mosques would reopen Sunday. Many mosques appeared to comply. In Baghdad’s Sunni northern district of Azamiya, a banner at the closed gate of the hallowed Abu Hanifa mosque read: “The mosque is closed until further notice because of the targeting of imams, preachers and worshippers.” The mosque closures were “prompted by the systematic targeting of and injustice against Sunni clerics, mosques and worshippers,” al-Bayati told The Associated Press. “Today, it is not forbidden […]

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Compromise Seen on Tehran’s Right to Enrich; Kerry, Other Foreign Ministers Fly to Geneva Talks to Try to Conclude Pact

GENEVA—Iran and world powers neared a crucial compromise Friday on a late roadblock to a deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, according to Western and Iranian diplomats taking part in the negotiations. A compromise on that issue—Iran’s demand that it be explicitly allowed to keep some domestic uranium enrichment capacity—could lend momentum to the push for an agreement and at least a temporary reprieve from a decadelong standoff over Tehran’s program and elevated fears of war over it, according to these officials. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius arrived in Geneva Saturday morning to join the Iranian nuclear talks, saying he wanted to see a “solid” deal reached. Mr. Fabius played a key role in the last round of Iranian negotiations two weeks ago, saying publicly the draft agreement under discussion was not tough enough on several key points. Iranian officials have since blamed France for scuppering a deal. Speaking […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Compromise Seen on Tehran's Right to Enrich; Kerry, Other Foreign Ministers Fly to Geneva Talks to Try to Conclude Pact

GENEVA—Iran and world powers neared a crucial compromise Friday on a late roadblock to a deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear program, according to Western and Iranian diplomats taking part in the negotiations. A compromise on that issue—Iran’s demand that it be explicitly allowed to keep some domestic uranium enrichment capacity—could lend momentum to the push for an agreement and at least a temporary reprieve from a decadelong standoff over Tehran’s program and elevated fears of war over it, according to these officials. French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius arrived in Geneva Saturday morning to join the Iranian nuclear talks, saying he wanted to see a “solid” deal reached. Mr. Fabius played a key role in the last round of Iranian negotiations two weeks ago, saying publicly the draft agreement under discussion was not tough enough on several key points. Iranian officials have since blamed France for scuppering a deal. Speaking […]

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Foreign ministers in Geneva for talks on Iran nuclear deal

World powers and Iran held a fresh round of talks on the Islamic republic’s nuclear programme, a month after launching ice-breaking negotiations that may yield a historic deal on easing sanctions against Tehran in exchange for concessions ©Getty EU foreign policy chief Lady Ashton and Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif arrive for talks in Geneva on Wednesday John Kerry, US secretary of state, has held talks with Lady Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief and the French foreign minister Laurent Fabius after flying to Geneva for the second time in two weeks for what is hoped will be a last diplomatic push to reach an interim agreement on curbing Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for an easing of international sanctions. A State Department […]

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Iran Would Eliminate Stock of Some of Its Enriched Uranium Under Deal

WASHINGTON — Under the proposed six-month deal that six major powers are negotiating with Iran in Geneva, Iran would eliminate its current stock of uranium enriched to 20 percent by diluting it or turning it into fuel rods or oxide powder, forms that are unusable for weapons, senior Western officials said Friday. Iran would be allowed to continue to enrich uranium at much lower levels, to 3.5 percent, the officials said, but would also agree to cap its current stockpile of such uranium, by eliminating, diluting or transforming into fuel as much 3.5 percent uranium as it produces over the six months. The officials spoke about the deal on the condition of anonymity because the negotiations had not been completed. The rationale for such a deal, the officials said, is to satisfy Iran’s refusal to suspend all enrichment — a concession that its negotiators could not sell domestically, even […]

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Iran Talks ‘Substantial,’ but Yield No Accord

GENEVA — The foreign policy chief of the European Union spent much of Thursday in detailed negotiations with Iranian officials over an agreement to temporarily freeze Tehran’s nuclear program. But the day ended without reports of a breakthrough and with a warning by a leading American lawmaker that he was prepared to introduce legislation next month that would impose new economic sanctions on Iran. The talks on Thursday between Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s top foreign policy official, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, were described by a spokesman for Ms. Ashton as “intense” and “substantial.” Their negotiations were to continue Friday morning. Reports in the Iranian news media suggested that the talks might continue into the weekend and could end with the arrival of Secretary of State John Kerry and the foreign ministers of other world powers if a deal appeared close. But whether the remaining issues […]

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