dagblog - Comments for "West and Iran May Be Near Nuclear Deal"

Iran Says It Has Agreed to

artappraiser — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 03:53:19 +0000

In reply to West and Iran May Be Near Nuclear Deal

Iran Says It Has Agreed to ‘Road Map’ With U.N. Agency on Nuclear Inspections
By Alissa J. Rubin and David E. Sanger, New York Times, Nov. 11/12, 2013

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 agreement that would have eased economic sanctions [....]

Iran?s Foreign Minister

artappraiser — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 23:38:10 +0000

In reply to Iran backed out of nuclear

Iran’s Foreign Minister Subtweets Kerry
By Robert Mackey, The Lede @ nytimes.com, Nov. 11, 2013

As my colleague Mark Landler reports, Secretary of State John Kerry insisted on Monday that it was unfair to blame last-minute objections from his French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, for scuttling a potential deal with Iran over its nuclear energy program last weekend in Geneva. “The French signed off on it, we signed off on it,” Mr. Kerry said of the final proposal presented to Iran’s negotiating team. “There was unity, but Iran couldn’t take it.”

Shortly after these remarks were reported, Iran’s chief negotiator, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, pushed back on Twitter, claiming that the draft proposal from the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany, known as the P5+1, changed drastically after the French intervention on Saturday, as the Guardian diplomatic correspondent Julian Borger reported [....]

Iran backed out of nuclear

artappraiser — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 23:32:05 +0000

In reply to West and Iran May Be Near Nuclear Deal

Iran backed out of nuclear deal - John Kerry
BBC News, 11 Nov., 2013

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 [....]

vs.

How France Scuttled the Iran Deal at the Last Minute
By Colum Lynch, Yochi Dreazen, The Cable @ ForeignPolicy.com, Nov. 10, 2013

Western and Iranian negotiators were putting the finishing touches on a far-reaching nuclear deal. Then, at virtually the last minute, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius joined in the talks. It didn't take long for the negotiations to unravel -- and for Fabius to publicly declare this round of the talks to be over.

It wasn't the answer U.S., European or Iranian teams had been expecting. One Western official said Paris hadn't been particularly involved in the painstaking negotiations that had taken place in the run-up to this weekend's talks in Geneva. "The French were barely involved in this," one Western diplomat said. "They didn't get looped in until a few days ago."

Yet the French response shouldn't have been a total surprise. The socialist government of French President François Hollande has adopted a muscular foreign policy that has put it to the right of the Obama administration on Libya, Mali, Syria and now Iran. Along the way, it has also become Israel's primary European ally and -- after the U.S. -- arguably its closest friend in the world.

Fabius, echoing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is said to have had two serious concerns with the deal [....]

I was reacting to your

Bruce Levine — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 22:16:35 +0000

In reply to I let it bother me because of

I was reacting to your question about being bothered by what bothers me. But I think I misread your comment. Sorry.

so far as I know I have not

artappraiser — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 16:47:26 +0000

In reply to I let it bother me because of

so far as I know I have not violated the TOS.

Now what's that all about? I was trying to commiserate, not to chastise. Apologies if it came across the wrong way.

I let it bother me because of

Bruce Levine — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 16:00:03 +0000

In reply to I am also unaware of any

I let it bother me because of history and heritage and so far as I know I have not violated the TOS.

I am also unaware of any

artappraiser — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 15:43:55 +0000

In reply to Yes Israel is suspicious of

I am also unaware of any effort by the Jewish Lobby to crush any chance of a deal nationally. I don't believe it is because it hasn't had time to mobilize.

Well that's good to hear. If so they have a bit more sense than some in Congress. I did see some news stories with pretty aggressive negative rumblings from some of the more fervent in Congress, along Netanyahu lines, which made me suspect some pressure, but probably they were just doing it out of habit. In any case I see that the White House basically yelled at them along the lines of "can you just shut your yaps for a few minutes and give us a chance to try something here"? And the Iranian negotiators no doubt have had similar problems, I am sure, with their hardliners.

Like the one NYT commenter I quoted pointed out, we can always go back to what we were doing, why not give it a chance.

For others, here is a link to the new NYT report giving the info. on France that you mention (yours with link to the LATimes):

Nuclear Talks With Iran Hit a Snag
By Mark Landler & Michael R. Gordon, Nov. 9, 2013

GENEVA — Negotiations on an agreement to temporarily freeze Iran’s nuclear program ran into headwinds on Saturday, as France questioned whether the deal would do enough to curb a nuclear reactor that will produce plutonium and to limit Iran’s enrichment of uranium.

France’s resistance, voiced by its foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, was the first sign of a division among the United States and five other major powers, which on Friday appeared to be moving toward the first agreement in a decade that would freeze Iran’s nuclear program.

Mr. Fabius said that a draft of the agreement was unacceptable to France and that there was no certainty that this round of negotiations would lead to an agreement. “We are hoping for a deal, but for the moment there are still issues that have not been resolved,” he told France Inter radio [....]

As far as this

As I per used the common thread it reinforced my view that some folks a deep seeded and vested interest in ensuring that Israel and it's supporters n the Jewish Diaspora will be blamed if negotiations lead to no deal. Unfortunate, ugly, and wrong on the facts. It's a world view thing, I guess.

I would just try to ameliorate your hurt on that a bit by pointing out that some hate Americans for George Bush's or Obama's policies, think they are one and the same. But yes, it is true that even if Israelis had a kinder, gentler more diplomatic prime minister that won't make the anti-Semitic "blame the Joos & Israel for everything" crowd change their thinking. Heck, that minority is not going to stop with their views even if there is a deal, so why even give it so much attention?

Yes Israel is suspicious of

Bruce Levine — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 15:18:21 +0000

In reply to West and Iran May Be Near Nuclear Deal

Yes Israel is suspicious of the deal. Dog bites man. But France is calling the initial draft unacceptable. The French don't want a "suckers deal". As I perused the comment thread it reinforced my view that some folks seem to have a deep seeded and vested interest in ensuring that Israel and it's supporters in the Jewish Diaspora will be blamed if negotiations lead to no deal. Unfortunate, ugly, and wrong on the facts. But it's an ingrained world view thing, I guess.

By the way, I've heard Zero criticism in my shul or among any Jews I've spoken with about nuclear negs with Iran. Last night we focused on the 75th anniversary of Kristalnacht, which was the beginning of the Final Solution. The speaker, son of German Jews and a founding member of my synagogue which came into being through Jewish refugees from Germany, didn't mention Iran, but he did mention the Roma in Europe, genocides in Darfur and Rwanda, and the Palestinian People.

I am also unaware of any effort by the Jewish Lobby to crush any chance of a deal nationally. I don't believe it is because it hasn't had time to mobilize.

I was reminded last night that at the time of the Kristalnacht Jews we're accused of controlling the country and the world, and they comprised less than one percent of the German population.

"Haaretz" -- If there were a

A Guy Called LULU — Sat, 09 Nov 2013 01:59:24 +0000

In reply to This is very encouraging. The

"Haaretz" -- If there were a synoptic map for diplomatic storms, the National Weather Service would be putting out a hurricane warning right now. The winds are blowing cold, tensions are on the rise and tempers are beginning to flare in the Bermuda triangle of relations between Israel, the US and the American Jewish community.

The rest of the article is available at:

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36792.htm

This is very encouraging. The

A Guy Called LULU — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 03:38:49 +0000

In reply to Iran and west to begin

This is very encouraging. The speed to this point is a big surprise but the moving so quickly before the opposition could poison the process, though they will still try, might indicate a real determination to accomplish a workable agreement even if it means offending some powerful 'friends'.