Al Arabiya
Iran and the world powers appeared headed Friday towards a
preliminary nuclear deal that would see some of its atomic activities
lifted in exchange for a limited removal of sanctions stifling its
economy.Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Abbas Araghchi told Iranian state TV that the six - the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany - “clearly said that they accept the proposed framework by Iran.” He later told CNN that he thinks negotiators at the table are now “ready to start drafting” an accord that outlines specific steps to be taken, Associated Press reported.
Though Araghchi described the negotiations as “very difficult,” he told Iranian state TV that he expected agreement on details by Friday, the last scheduled round of the current talks.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Geneva on Friday in an effort to help secure a nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers, a senior U.S. State Department official said.
“Secretary Kerry will travel to Geneva, Switzerland on Friday at the invitation of EU High Representative (Catherine) Ashton in an effort to help narrow differences in negotiations,” the official said, according to Reuters.
In an interview with NBC News on Thursday U.S. President Barack Obama that an interim deal with Iran on its nuclear program would provide Iran only “very modest relief” from the sanctions.
“We don’t have to trust them. What we have to do is to make sure that there is a good deal in place from the perspective of us verifying what they’re doing,” Obama said.
“There is the possibility of a phased agreement in which the first phase would be us, you know, halting any advances on their nuclear program, rolling some potential back, and putting in place ... some very modest relief, but keeping the sanctions architecture in place.”
The president said that if necessary such limited relief from sanctions could be reversed if it was judged Iran was not living up to its end of the bargain.
“If they’re not willing to go forward and finish the job of giving us assurances that they’re not developing a nuclear weapon, we can crank that dial back up,” Obama said.
Reports from Geneva, where Iranian negotiators are in talks with key world powers including the United States, suggest an interim deal will include limits on Iran’s enrichment capacity, verification steps and restrictions on its stockpiles of atomic material and its nuclear facilities, AFP reported.
Such an agreement would be designed to build confidence on both sides with a view to concluding a final deal that would verifiably convince the West that Iran is not building nuclear weapons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to reports of the close agreement saying in a Twitter post: “If the news from Geneva is true, this is the deal of the century for #Iran.”
Netanyahu had launched a campaign on twitter to uncover “The Real face of Iran” coinciding with the ongoing talks in Geneva.
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/11/08/Iran-close-to-preliminary-nuclear-deal-with-world-powers.html
8/11/13
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Kerry to join Iran nuclear talks in Geneva....
ReplyDeleteUS secretary of state will attend talks on Iran's nuclear programme in bid to reach deal after decade-old standoff.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Geneva to join international talks on Iran's disputed nuclear programme, fuelling hopes a historic deal may be in sight.
Tehran and world powers ended a first day of talks on Thursday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif saying a deal could be reached "before we close these negotiations”.
Negotiators from Iran and six global powers are meeting for two days in Geneva to broker a deal that could see Tehran freeze its nuclear efforts in exchange for some relief from the sanctions that have battered its economy.......http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/11/kerry-join-iran-nuclear-talks-geneva-20131183301233199.html
8/11/13
Israel rejects mooted nuclear deal with Iran...
ReplyDelete(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 needs.
Netanyahu was meeting Kerry for the third time in barely 48 hours. The U.S. secretary of state was due to fly immediately afterwards to Geneva where Iran and six world powers are holding negotiations.
The United States has said world powers will consider relaxing some economic sanctions against Iran if it takes verifiable steps to limit its nuclear program.
Israel has called for the sanctions to remain in place until Iran has dismantled its entire enrichment program.
"I understand that the Iranians are walking around very satisfied in Geneva as well they should be because they got everything and paid nothing," Netanyahu said.
"Everything they wanted, they wanted relief of sanctions after years of a grueling sanctions regime, they got that. They are paying nothing because they are not reducing in any way their nuclear enrichment capability," he said.
An Israeli official declined to say what deal was brewing, or how Israel knew the details.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer and Lesley Wroughton, editing by Elizabeth Piper)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/08/us-iran-nuclear-israel-idUSBRE9A709G20131108?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
8/11/13
Kerry says aims to close 'important gaps' in Iran nuclear talks....ISRAELI FURY...
ReplyDelete(Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday important gaps needed to be bridged in high-stakes talks with Iran on curbing its nuclear program and he would meet Tehran's foreign minister shortly to try to clinch an interim deal.
"I want to emphasize there is not an agreement at this point," Kerry said shortly after arriving in Geneva, tempering rising anticipation of a breakthrough that would reduce the risk of a Middle East war over Iran's nuclear aspirations.
"We hope to try to narrow these differences but I don't think anybody should mistake there are some important gaps that have to be closed," he told reporters.
Midway through the second round of negotiations since Iran elected a moderate president who opened doors to a peaceful solution to the nuclear dispute, Kerry joined fellow big power foreign ministers in Geneva to help cement a preliminary accord, with Israel warning they were making an epic mistake.
Diplomats said a breakthrough remained uncertain and would in any case mark only the first step in a long, complex process towards a permanent resolution of international concerns that Iran may be seeking the means to build nuclear bombs.
But they said the arrival of Kerry, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and French and German foreign ministers Laurent Fabius and Guido Westerwelle signaled that the five permanent U.N. Security Council members and Germany may be closer to an elusive pact with Iran than ever before.
Kerry was expected to hold a trilateral meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif............http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/08/us-iran-nuclear-israel-idUSBRE9A709G20131108?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
8/11/13
Kerry: No nuclear deal with Iran yet, important gaps remain...
ReplyDeleteGENEVA - Iran and six world powers have not reached any deal yet that would end Tehran's decade-long standoff with the West over its nuclear program, US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday.
"I want to emphasize there is not an agreement at this point," Kerry told reporters shortly after arriving in Geneva. "I don't think anybody should mistake that there are some important gaps that have to be closed."
http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/Kerry-No-nuclear-deal-with-Iran-yet-important-gaps-remain-331004
8/11/13