Wp: Diplomats Continue Push For Deal With Iran On Nuclear Program

[visionary]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/kerry-in-geneva-to-push-nuclear-talks-with-iran-says-important-gaps-remain/2013/11/09/e08a4414-4931-11e3-bf0c-cebf37c6f484_story.html

Diplomats continue push for deal with Iran on nuclear program

 

Top level U.S., European and Iranian officials continued their marathon negotiations on a possible international deal over Iran’s disputed nuclear program Saturday, but the few signs that emerged from the closed-door talks were inconclusive.

 

“There is an initial draft that we do not accept … I have no certainty that we can finish up” before the departure of foreign ministers who came to Geneva to give an added boost to the talks, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in an interview with French radio.

 

They will contintinue “to apply all our efforts to this today to try to seize this opportunity,” British Foreign Secretary William Hague told reporters. While they were all “conscious of the fact that some momentum has built up,” Hague said, “there is no time fixed for us to reach a conclusion.”

 

Both officials cited complications over the two main issues their governments, along with the United States, Germany, Russia and China, are negotiating with Iran. Disagreements center on the status of Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor and the separate production of highly-enriched uranium — both processes that can be used to produce a nuclear weapons — and on what to do with the enriched uranium Iran has already stockpiled.

 

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_NUCLEAR_TALKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Talks over Iran's disputed nuke program hit a snag

 

Iran's refusal to suspend work on a plutonium-producing reactor and downgrade its stockpile of higher-enriched uranium were standing in the way of an interim agreement to curb Tehran's nuclear program in return for easing of sanctions, France's foreign minister said Saturday.

 

A Western diplomat in Geneva for the talks told The Associated Press that the French were holding out for conditions on the Iranians tougher than those agreed to by the U.S. and France's other negotiating partners, raising doubts a final deal could be struck Saturday.

 

The French position was confirmed by another Western diplomat. Both gave no specifics and demanded anonymity because they were not authorized to comment on the diplomatic maneuvering.

 

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius remarks to France-Inter radio were the first to provide some specifics on the obstacles at the Geneva talks, now in their third day. He spoke by telephone from Geneva, where he, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and counterparts from Britain, and Germany negotiating with Iran consulted on how to resolve the obstacles at the talks.

 

Fabius mentioned differences over Iran's Arak reactor southeast of Tehran, which could produce enough plutonium for several nuclear weapons a year once it goes online. He also said there was disagreement over efforts to limit Iran's uranium enrichment to levels that would require substantial further enriching before they could be used as the fissile core of a nuclear weapon.

 

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Romain Nadal pointed to "rather large cohesion" among the negotiators, and said France wanted "the international community to see a serious change in the climate" of talks with Iran.

 

`'There have been years of talks that have led to nothing," Nadal said, alluding to the need for tough terms on Iran.

 

[visionary]

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/11/rouhani-iran-will-not-give-up-nuclear-rights-201311107178166380.html

Rouhani: Iran will not give up nuclear rights 

 

President says nation will not bow to threats after France scuppers nuclear programme deal it describes as a "con".

 

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said his country will not give up the right to enriching uranium, in his first comments since talks broke down with world powers over Iran’s nuclear programme.

 

Rouhani said on Sunday that his nation had acted rationally and tactfully during three days of nuclear negotiations in Geneva, which concluded on Saturday without agreement.

 

"We have said to the negotiating sides that we will not answer to any threat, sanction, humiliation or discrimination. The Islamic Republic has not and will not bow its head to threats from any authority," he said in a speech at the National Assembly, reported by the ISNA news agency.

 

The comments came a day after France apparently thwarted a deal that could have relaxed sanctions on Iran in return for concessions on its nuclear policy.

 

"For us there are red lines that cannot be crossed,” Rouhani said. “National interests are our red lines that include our rights under the framework of international regulations and enrichment in Iran."

 

 

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/11/world/middleeast/kerry-no-deal-in-hand-defends-negotiating-strategy-on-iran.html?smid=tw-share

Iran Balked at Language of Draft Nuclear Deal, Western Diplomats Say

 

As Secretary of State John Kerry and foreign ministers from other world powers sought to work out an interim agreement to constrain Iran’s nuclear program, the Iranian government’s insistence on formal recognition of its “right” to enrich uranium emerged as a major obstacle, diplomats said Sunday. 

 

In long hours of closed-door discussions, Western and Iranian negotiators haggled over the language of a possible agreement. Toward the end of a marathon session, some diplomats believed that only a handful of words appeared to separate the two sides.

 

But the dispute over enrichment rights, among other differences, meant that the talks ended not with the breakthrough that many had hoped for, but with only a promise that lower-level negotiators would meet here in 10 days for more discussions.

 

Many reports have ascribed the failure of the talks to France’s insistence that any agreement put tight restrictions on a heavy-water plant that Iran is building, which can produce plutonium.

 

But while France took a harder line than its partners on some issues, a senior American official said it was the Iranian delegation that balked at completing an interim agreement, saying that it had to engage in additional consultations in Tehran before proceeding further.

 

[visionary]

http://news.yahoo.com/white-house-warns-congress-opposing-iran-deal-could-183651386.html

New Iran sanctions would risk war, White House warns

 

The White House warned US lawmakers Tuesday that tightening sanctions on Iran could box America into a "march to war" and derail a diplomatic push to limit Tehran's atomic program.

 

The warning marked a significant toughening of President Barack Obama's stance towards skeptical US lawmakers as he prepares to resume high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with Iran later this month.

 

"The American people do not want a march to war," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

But the White House implicitly warned that new sanctions could embolden hardliners in Tehran who oppose talks, and force Obama to begin preparations for military action.

 

Carney said Americans "justifiably and understandably prefer a peaceful solution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and this agreement, if it's achieved, has the potential to do that.

 

"The alternative is military action," Carney warned.

 

"It is important to understand that if pursuing a resolution diplomatically is disallowed or ruled out, what options then do we and our allies have to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Predicto]

It will be interesting to see if the good cop bad cop thing we are doing with France here will pay dividends.   My fingers are crossed.

 

Frankly, anything we can get in these negotiations situation is more than I expect.  I can't see any way to stop Iran from eventually getting a nuke absent a preemptive invasion and subjugation of the entire country (which would be ten times worse for us and completely unjustifiable).   Once India and then Pakistan had them, the race was unstoppable. 

[twa]

The Sauds are preparing, should be fun

[visionary]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-17/238120-france-has-4-demands-for-interim-deal-with-iran-hollande.ashx#axzz2kwF0Ae8d

France has '4 demands' for interim deal with Iran: Hollande

 

French President Francois Hollande on Sunday laid out four demands which must be in place for an agreement with Iran to successfully rein in its nuclear programme.

 

"France is in favour of an interim agreement but on the basis of four points," he said at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.

 

"The first demand: put all the Iranian nuclear installations under international supervision, right now. Second point: suspend enrichment to 20 percent. Thirdly: to reduce the existing stock.

 

"And finally, to halt construction of the Arak (heavy water) plant. These are the points which for us are essential to guarantee any agreement," he said.

 

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.558629

U.S. sources: Iran nuclear deal includes Arak halt, uranium freeze, tough inspections

 

The P5+1 proposal that will be discussed at Wednesday’s talks with Iran at Geneva includes a halt on any further construction at the Arak heavy water plant as well as a freeze on Iran’s current stockpiles of enriched uranium.

 

According to informed U.S. sources, the proposal also includes the imposition of an unprecedented inspection regime aimed at ensuring that Tehran keeps the commitments that it will undertake in the new nuclear deal. The sources claim that this rigid regime, which will include daily inspections in some cases, may prove to be “the bitterest pill” for Iran to swallow.

 

The new details of the proposal come as the Administration continues its efforts to persuade Congress to refrain from imposing new sanctions on Iran and thus jeopardizing the chances for an accord. Sources in Washington say that U.S. President Obama intends to invite the leaders of both houses of Congress to the White House early this week in order to present details of the emerging deal with Iran and to ask for Congress to hold off on any new steps.

[visionary]

Deal reached between Iran and world powers.  Obama to speak on it at 10:15 pm.

 

 

 

http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/23/world/meast/iran-nuclear-talks-geneva/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

EU spokesman: Iran nuclear deal reached

 

An agreement was struck early Sunday between Iran and six world powers over Tehran's nuclear program, a spokesman for the European Union said.

 

The historic deal follows marathon talks to overcome issues surrounding the wording of an initial agreement over Iran's nuclear development program and lift some sanctions while a more formal deal between the two sides is worked out.

 

"We have reached agreement," EU spokesman Michael Mann said in a Twitter post.

 

[visionary]

http://www.bnowire.com/inbox/?id=2098

Fact Sheet: First Step Understandings Regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Nuclear Program

 

The P5+1 (the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China, facilitated by the European Union) has been engaged in serious and substantive negotiations with Iran with the goal of reaching a verifiable diplomatic resolution that would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

 

President Obama has been clear that achieving a peaceful resolution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is in America’s national security interest. Today, the P5+1 and Iran reached a set of initial understandings that halts the progress of Iran's nuclear program and rolls it back in key respects. These are the first meaningful limits that Iran has accepted on its nuclear program in close to a decade. The initial, six month step includes significant limits on Iran's nuclear program and begins to address our most urgent concerns including Iran’s enrichment capabilities; its existing stockpiles of enriched uranium; the number and capabilities of its centrifuges; and its ability to produce weapons-grade plutonium using the Arak reactor.

 

The concessions Iran has committed to make as part of this first step will also provide us with increased transparency and intrusive monitoring of its nuclear program. In the past, the concern has been expressed that Iran will use negotiations to buy time to advance their program. Taken together, these first step measures will help prevent Iran from using the cover of negotiations to continue advancing its nuclear program as we seek to negotiate a long-term, comprehensive solution that addresses all of the international community's concerns.

Seems to differ somewhat from other accounts of the deal particulars though.

[visionary]

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/world/middleeast/talks-with-iran-on-nuclear-deal-hang-in-balance.html?hpw&rref=&_r=0

Deal Reached With Iran Halts Its Nuclear Program

According to the accord, Iran would agree to stop enriching uranium beyond 5 percent. To make good on that pledge, Iran would dismantle the links between networks of centrifuges.

 

All of Iran’s stockpile of uranium that has been enriched to 20 percent, a short hop to weapons-grade fuel, would be diluted or converted into oxide so that it could not be readily used for military purposes.

 

No new centrifuges, neither old models nor newer more efficient ones, could be installed. Centrifuges that have been installed but which are not currently operating — Iran has more than 8,000 such centrifuges — could not be started up. No new enrichment facilities could be established.

 

The agreement, however, would not require Iran to stop enriching uranium to a level of 3.5 percent or dismantle any of its existing centrifuges.

 

Iran’s stockpile of such low-enriched uranium would be allowed to temporarily increase to about eight tons from seven tons currently. But Tehran would be required to shrink this stockpile by the end of the six-month agreement back to seven tons. This would be done by installing equipment to covert some of that stockpile to oxide.

 

To guard against cheating, international monitors would be allowed to visit the Natanz enrichment facility and the underground nuclear enrichment plant at Fordo on a daily basis to check the film from cameras installed there.

 

[visionary]

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=t6SMOF8T

Secret US-Iran talks set stage for nuke deal

 

The Associated Press has learned that the United States and Iran secretly engaged in high-level, face-to-face talks at least three times over the past year.

 

The high-stakes diplomatic gamble by the Obama administration paved the way for the historic deal sealed early Sunday in Geneva aimed at slowing Tehran's nuclear program.

 

The discussions were kept hidden even from America's closest friends, including its negotiating partners and Israel, until two months ago.

 

Senior Obama administration officials confirmed to the AP details of the extensive outreach. The officials spoke only on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss by name the highly sensitive diplomatic effort

 

[Predicto]

This is potentially fantastic news.

 

Not that I trust the Iranian government at all, but there were no better options out there.  Just bad ones (lthow up your hands and accept that they will have nukes) and worse ones (try to invade and control yet another huge Middle Eastern country).   

[Predicto]

Amazing how no one is talking about this.   Not only here, but in general.  

[Bang]

Personally, i think it is good that we have finally gotten agreements out of Iran AND Syria on their weapons.

But that trust issue is there.

~Bang

[twa]

Amazing how no one is talking about this.   Not only here, but in general.  

 

 

Bibi is certainly talking about it 

 

I agree with Bang,but too much is unsettled and Iran seems to have a different interpretation than us on what the preliminary agreement even is.

 

kinda pointless to speculate from where I sit

[Ellis]

Amazing how no one is talking about this. Not only here, but in general.

Speaking for myself, I simply don't trust the Iranian govt. there's nothing to talk about. I'm waiting for the moment we find out they're still building nukes aimed at our allies. And I'll say, "who didn't see that coming?"

I hate to come off as cynical but that "govt" does what they wish and there is little stock in their word.

[visionary]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/12/13/us-iran-nuclear-experts-idUSBRE9BC0MP20131213?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Iran nuclear talks hit snag after U.S. sanctions move

 

A breakthrough agreement to end a standoff over Iran's nuclear program appeared to face its first major difficulty on Friday with Russia warning that a U.S. sanctions move could "seriously" complicate its implementation.

 

Russia, which along with the United States is among the six world powers which negotiated the November 24 interim accord with Tehran, echoed Iran's criticism by saying Washington's sanctions decision violated the spirit of the deal.

 

Moscow's statement came after diplomats said Iran had interrupted technical talks with the six nations in Vienna over how to implement the agreement, under which Tehran is to cap its nuclear program in return for limited sanctions easing.

But Russia made its concerns clear a day after the United States blacklisted additional companies and people under existing sanctions intended to prevent Iran from obtaining the capability to make nuclear weapons. Iran denies any such aims.

 

"The U.S. administration's decision goes against the spirit of this document," said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, referring to the Geneva agreement between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany.

 

"Widening American 'blacklists' could seriously complicate the fulfillment of the Geneva agreement, which proposes easing sanctions pressure."

 

[sacase]

This is a horrible thing. All it is going to do is allow the Iranians an easier way to get items that they need and to get the money they need to buy them. We are basically allowing them to build their nuke arsenal. They have no reason to abide by the agreement. They know the world is not going to do anything.

[Slateman]

And we care that they have nukes because . . . ? Not like we don't either.

[sacase]

And we care that they have nukes because . . . ? Not like we don't either.

Do you seriously think it is ok for them to have nukes? Really? A country that back terrorists...you want them to have nukes....well hell, nukes for everyone then, why stop anyone from getting them. Let's even let NK get them as well.

[Predicto]

This is a horrible thing. All it is going to do is allow the Iranians an easier way to get items that they need and to get the money they need to buy them. We are basically allowing them to build their nuke arsenal. They have no reason to abide by the agreement. They know the world is not going to do anything.

 

We are not "bascally allowing" them to build nukes.  They were building them anyway.   The sanctions did not halt that, or even barely slow it down.   The sanctions made Iran suffer, as a way of pressuing them to stop.   But they have to want to stop.

Looks like Russia is pissed about the Ukranian turnaround to the West, and is going to **** with the Iranian nuclear negotiations as retaliation.   Typical Putin pettiness.

[sacase]

We are not "bascally allowing" them to build nukes.  They were building them anyway.   The sanctions did not halt that, or even barely slow it down.   The sanctions made Iran suffer, as a way of pressuing them to stop.   But they have to want to stop.

Looks like Russia is pissed about the Ukranian turnaround to the West, and is going to **** with the Iranian nuclear negotiations as retaliation.   Typical Putin pettiness.

Granted we cannot completely stop them with sanctions, but we can make it so much harder and increase the time that it takes significantly. Opening things up for them just allows them to get it does much faster and easier.

[twa]

And we care that they have nukes because . . . ? Not like we don't either.

 

Our policy is to stop the spread of them and to try to ensure they are not used and tightly controlled....our slacking on that effort enabled Pakistan and NK w/India naturally countering

 

If they develop them it will simply be a nuclear arms race in the region that is already prone to unrest....the Sauds are already preparing to counter and have lost faith in our promises.

 

I would love to be a isolationist,but it is not practical.

[Predicto]

Granted we cannot completely stop them with sanctions, but we can make it so much harder and increase the time that it takes significantly. Opening things up for them just allows them to get it does much faster and easier.

 

I have seen that asserted by political types like John Bolton, but I have never seen it supported by nuclear experts or backed by any detailed factual support.   As far as I understand it, Iran already has thousands of centrifuges whirring away to produce fissile material, and already has more than enough engineering knowhow to make that material into a bomb.   Our computer sabotage put a delay in their efforts, and "someone" killed some of their scientists, but sanctions only reduce the number of additional centrifuges they can build.    Unfortunately, they already have plenty of centrifuges, and the amount of additional delay we could add with sanctions is measured in months, if not weeks.  

 

Absent a deal of some type, they were going to get there next year or maybe the year after at the latest, unfortunately.     

Our policy is to stop the spread of them and to try to ensure they are not used and tightly controlled....our slacking on that effort enabled Pakistan and NK w/India naturally countering

 

If they develop them it will simply be a nuclear arms race in the region that is already prone to unrest....the Sauds are already preparing to counter and have lost faith in our promises.

 

I would love to be a isolationist,but it is not practical.

 

 

Actually India was first, all the way back in 1974.   Pakistan did a crash course to get the bomb because it was terrifed that India already had one.  

[twa]

yes, and the race is still going with India looking to join the Triad capable.....fun ,fun

sanctions are geared to change the desire,slow progress and enable insurrection.....they won't stop building a bomb,but it might make it plain they are not worth the costs.