Quote:Kerry warns Congress: sanctions threat endangers historic Iran nuclear deal

Proposal for more further sanctions is 'gratuitous', Kerry says
Influential house committee opposes agreement with Tehran

• Paul Lewis in Washington
  
• theguardian.com, Tuesday 10 December 2013 21.48 GMT
  

John Kerry testifies before the House committee. 'Let me be clear: this is a delicate diplomatic moment.' Photograph: Ron Sachs/Corbis

John Kerry, the US secretary of state, struggled to persuade a deeply sceptical Congress to abandon a plan for new sanctions against Iran on Monday, warning lawmakers that they risked scuppering a major nuclear agreement.
Kerry said the notion of introducing new sanctions, a month after a historic interim agreement was reached with Tehran, and in the midst of negotiations for a final, comprehensive deal, was "gratuitous".
"I'm not saying never," Kerry told members of the House foreign affairs committee, most of whom favour more sanctions to increase pressure against Iran. "I'm just saying: not right now. Let me be very clear: this is a delicate diplomatic moment."
Kerry's attempts to sell the current policy towards Iran, however, met a wall of opposition from members of the committee, who appeared almost entirely unified against the deal, which some argued had endangered the US and its ally Israel.
A succession of committee members, Republican and Democratic, told Kerry they did not trust Iran's commitments and said the only viable way to avoid Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon was to press forward with yet tighter sanctions.
Kerry countered that the world was at "a crossroads, one of those hinge points in history", and said there would be "gigantic implications" if the talks broke down. "They know that if this fails, sanctions will be increased," he said of Iran's leaders. "But you don't need to do it [now]. It is actually gratuitous, in the context of the situation. Because you can do it in a week if you need to."
Under the interim agreement, forged last month between Iran and a six-nation group comprising the US, three European countries, Russia, and China, Tehran has agreed to halt progress of its nuclear program, neutralise a stockpile of higher grade uranium and open its facilities to inspectors.
In return, some sanctions have been eased which, according to US estimates, will provide a $7bn boost to Iran's debilitated economy. The agreement, brokered in Geneva, will last just six months, after which all sides are seeking to achieve a final, comprehensive deal.
The Republican chairman of the foreign affairs committee, Ed Royce, and the Democratic ranking member, Eliot Engel, authored the bill to increase sanctions against Iran, which passed 400 votes to 20 in July. Both said at the hearing that they had serious concerns about the Geneva agreement, arguing that tightening sanctions on Iran at this stage would actually strengthen the hand of US negotiators.
A major concern for sceptics of the deal is the possibility that Iran will be permitted to maintain a limited, civil nuclear-enrichment program on its soil, rather than import nuclear materials from abroad. "Iran is not just another country," Royce told Kerry. "It simply can't be trusted with enrichment technology, because verification efforts can never be foolproof."
The Royce-Engel bill, which would dramatically tighten existing sanctions, is currently with the Senate banking committee. But there is growing pressure for the legislation to be put to a vote, possibly with a clause that would mean the implementation would be delayed by six months, allowing the current round of talks to continue.
When Iran's foreign minister, Javad Zarif, was asked how Tehran would respond in the event of Congress imposing new sanctions with a six-month delay, the usually conciliatory diplomat responded: "The entire deal is dead. We do not like to negotiate under duress." Zarif, Iran's lead negotiator, told Time magazine: "And if Congress adopts sanctions, it shows lack of seriousness and lack of a desire to achieve a resolution on the part of the United States."
Although most western leaders have cautiously backed the Geneva deal, Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has called the agreement a "historic mistake", and his officials have been pressing their case hard in Washington.
Kerry looked visibly irritated during his testy exchanges with members of the committee, warning them that any new sanctions jeopardize the achievements already achieved by negotiations and undermine the unity the US has achieved with other powers such as China and Russia. "It implies a lack of faith in the process, and an unwillingness to play by the rules that our partners are playing by," he said.
He insisted there was only "very limited and reversible" easing of sanctions under the interim agreement, saying the $7bn Iran is forecast to gain from the deal "pales in comparison" to the $30bn it will still lose from the many other sanctions that have remained intact. In an effort to win support, Kerry complimented members of Congress and said they should take "great pride" in the fact that years of sanctions had brought about the historic negotiations.
As well as freezing Iran's nuclear program, Kerry said the provisional settlement provided inspectors with daily access to Fordow, the secret mountain-top enrichment plant, as well as unprecedented access to a heavy-water plutonium reactor, Arak. "I think Congress deserves an enormous amount of credit for that," he said.
Few on the committee were persuaded, repeating that Iran could not be trusted and that the provisional agreement falls short of what the US should be demanding.
The debate over the new sanctions bill is merely a foretaste of the major confrontation between Congress and the Obama administration that could be unleashed in July if a comprehensive deal is reached. Although the White House can ease some sanctions through waiver authorities, experts agree that unraveling the wider sanctions regime, which stretches back three decades, would require congressional approval.
The challenge of securing that support from Congress was laid bare by Kerry's reception from the committee. Obama's critics are not restricted to Republicans, but include hawks from the president's own Democratic party. In the Senate, they include the chairman powerful foreign relations committee, Robert Menendez of New Jersey, and the third-ranking Democrat, Chuck Schumer of New York.
Obama insisted on Saturday that regardless of the outcome of talks, the "first-step" deal forged in Geneva had at least postponed Iran's so-called "breakout capacity". However, the president said that the likelihood of a satisfactory outcome from the negotiations with Iran was no more than "50-50".

Quote:Iran nuclear deal imperiled by new sanctions bill, White House warns

Iranian experts concerned Congress could sabotage final deal
Senior Senate Democrats back bill as draft leaks to press

• Paul Lewis in Washington
  
• theguardian.com, Thursday 19 December 2013 17.04 GMT
  

Chuck Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the Senate chamber, is a co-author of the bill. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Two of the most senior Democrats in the US Senate have thrown their weight behind a bill to impose new sanctions on Iran, a move the White House believes could sabotage delicate negotiations over a final nuclear deal.
Democrat Robert Menendez, who chairs the powerful foreign affairs committee, is the lead author of the bill, alongside Chuck Schumer, the third-ranking Democrat in the chamber, and a Republican senator, Mark Kirk.
According to a copy of the draft obtained by Foreign Policy magazine, it would permit Barack Obama to suspend the implementation of harsh new sanctions on Iran for the duration of the nuclear talks, but only on the basis of strict criteria laid down by Congress.
The administration would need to certify to Congress every 30 days that Tehran was meeting a set of conditions, including those laid out in a temporary accord reached in Geneva last month. The bill also compels the Obama administration to provide Congress with a detailed progress report on negotiations at monthly intervals.
Iranian experts are increasingly concerned that Congress poses one of the greatest obstacles to a final nuclear settlement with Tehran.
Technical experts are fine-tuning how the temporary deal reached in Geneva last month will be implemented, but it is expected to come into force sometime in January. It would initially last six months, but officials close to the negotiations say it would almost certainly have to be renewed.
The deal provides limited sanctions relief to Iran which, according to US estimates, will provide a $7bn boost to Iran's economy. In return, Iran has agreed to freeze its nuclear program, destroy stockpiles of higher-grade uranium and commit to more rigorous inspections.
Forged between Iran and a six-nation group comprising the US, three European countries, Russia and China, the temporary deal was intended to provide momentum and space for more sustained negotiations in search of a final, comprehensive agreement.
Crucially, it contains a clause in which the US administration committed itself to "refrain from imposing new nuclear-related sanctions", although the wording provided some acknowledgement that President Obama could not control legislation passed by Congress.
However, a high-ranking official closely involved with the negotiations, who spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to talk publicly about nuclear talks, told the Guardian a new sanctions bill would be seen by the Iranians to be in breach of "the spirit" of the agreement. The official said a new bill would risk Iranians walking from the negotiating table before the Geneva agreement has even begun, adding: "We could be back to square one."
The temporary Geneva deal has been received with widespread scepticism in Congress, not least because it paves the way to Iran maintaining some capacity to develop civil nuclear fuel on its territory, albeit under strict limitations. Washington's hardliners insist Iran should not be permitted any nuclear enrichment capability, arguing they should be forced to dismantle all their reactors and instead import nuclear fuel from abroad. The Menendez-Schumer bill comes close to making this demand.
It would prohibit Obama from waiving sanctions on Iran unless, under a final agreement, the country dismantles "illicit nuclear infrastructure, including enrichment and reprocessing capabilities and facilities and the heavy water reactor and production plant at Arak". It also contains a provision enabling Congress to override any easing of sanctions authorised by the White House bypassing a "joint resolution of disapproval" against any final deal.
It is unlikely to be debated before the recess but will likely resurface in early January. The White House has so far managed to dissuade Democrats on Capitol Hill from pursuing bills and resolutions they argue would imperil the current talks, but it is unclear how much sway the administration has over Menendez and Schumer. Harry Reid, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, is also likely to play a crucial role in determining whether an Iran sanctions bill reaches the floor.
Last week the Democratic chair of the Senate banking committee, Tim Johnson, shelved a similar Iran sanctions bill, which passed overwhelmingly by the House in July, after pressure from the White House.
The administration also appeared to have convinced the House Democratic whip Steny Hoyer from supporting a resolution that called for additional sanctions on Iran and laid out a tough set of criteria that should be met before any final deal. Hoyer was closely involved in drafting the resolution, and only pulled his support at the very last minute.

Obama will Veto new Iran Sanctions, Israel War Mandate pushed by AIPAC Senators

Magda Hassan Wrote:Obama will Veto new Iran Sanctions, Israel War Mandate pushed by AIPAC Senators

By Juan Cole | Dec. 21, 2013 |

In his end-of-the-year press conference, President Obama had to defend his Iran negotiations in the face of a revolt within his own party. Thirteen Democratic senators and thirteen Republican senators banded together…

In his end-of-the-year press conference, President Obama had to defend his Iran negotiations in the face of a revolt within his own party.
Thirteen Democratic senators and thirteen Republican senators banded together to try to derail President Obama's negotiations with Iran by slapping new sanctions on that country in the middle of delicate negotiations. This behavior is no surprise coming from the GOP, but the thirteen Democratic senators involved are traitors to the party. They are acting at the behest of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other American supporters of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who actively wants to torpedo Obama's Iran talks. They are attempting to make the leader of their party, their president, fail in one of his major diplomatic initiatives. They are disloyal and the Democratic National Committee should pull their funding. They include most prominently Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA). If we could trace the money involved it would go back to billionaire American Likudniks.

David Guyatt Wrote:The question has to be asked is whether the 13 democrats are disloyal to their party out of conscience, or because they are loyal to Israel, or if their source of funding/income is threatened if they don't come out in favour of Israel?

I lean to the latter explanation. :

Quote:

Iran FM: We may recognize Israel after Palestinian deal

Zarif also says Holocaust tragically cruel,' should not occur again; officials in Tehran deny he made Holocaust statements

By Marissa Newman February 3, 2014, 7:33 pm







Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif at The World Economic Forum in Davos on January 24, 2014. (photo credit: AFP/Eric Piermont)



The Islamic Republic may consider recognizing Israel after a peace accord is struck with the Palestinians, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Zarif said Monday in an interview with German TV.

"After the problem with the Palestinians is resolved, the conditions that will enable recognition of the State of Israel will be established," Zarif said.
"If the Palestinians are happy with the solution, then nobody nobody could prevent that from happening."
However, the foreign minister also declared that no acceptable agreement had been proposed thus far to the Palestinians, and decried the "crimes" perpetrated against the Palestinian nation.
"We can't do anything," he said. "The Palestinians need recognition and afterward it will possible to discuss other solutions."
Iran cut off all diplomatic ties and stopped recognizing Israel after the 1979 Iranian revolution.
Zarif also described the Holocaust as an event that was "tragically cruel and should not happen again."
"We have nothing against the Jews. We do not feel threatened by anyone," Zarif said.
The semi-official Fars News Agency later denied that the foreign minister had made the Holocaust statements, and quoted his deputy denying them too, despite footage of the interview being available online.
"In a phone conversation that I had with Mr. Zarif he completely rejected the remarks attributed to him and declared that the Islamic Republic's stance about the (Zionist) regime is what has been repeatedly announced by the country's diplomacy apparatus and this stance has not changed," said Deputy Foreign Minister Hassan Qashqavi said, according to the Iranian news agency.
Zarif was in Germany to attend the weekend's Munich Security Conference. Notably, Israel's Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon sat in the front row of a session at which Zarif spoke, and other Israeli delegates also remained in the hall. At the UN General Assembly last fall, by contrast, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israel's delegates to leave the hall for the address by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
In late January, speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Rouhani dodged a question about whether Iran would recognize Israel.
During the brief question and answer session after the speech, WEF founder Klaus Schwab focused on Rouhani's stated desire to work toward better relations with the rest of the world.
"Do you include all countries?" Schwab asked, presumably intending Israel. There was a hum of laughter and expectation from the audience.
Rouhani paused for a moment and laughed. "There are no exceptions; we wish for a better future and to have beneficial relations with all that we recognize," he then said with a smile.
In the interview with German TV, Zarif also maintained that a nuclear deal could be reached between Iran and the six world powers within six months should goodwill between countries persist, and said Iran was not concerned about US efforts to renew sanctions.
"I am not afraid of Congress's decision because the US president has promised to veto such a resolution," Zarif said.
Fifty-nine Republicans and Democrats back legislation to impose a new round of penalties on Iran, maintaining that crippling economic sanctions forced Tehran to make concessions.
The legislation, sponsored by Sens. Bob Menendez and Mark Kirk, would blacklist several Iranian industrial sectors and threaten banks and companies around the world with being banned from the US market if they help Iran export any more oil. The provisions would only take effect if Tehran violates the six-month interim deal or lets it expire without a comprehensive nuclear agreement.
In his State of the Union address last week, US President Barack Obama repeated his threat to veto any new Iran sanctions if Congress passes legislation. On Monday, former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Congress that new sanctions against Iran would undermine diplomatic talks.
Zarif also said Iran "would never start a military operation against anyone."
Iran agreed in November to slow its uranium enrichment program to a level that is far below what would be necessary to make a nuclear bomb. It also agreed to increased international inspections to give world leaders confidence that it is not trying to build weapons in secret.
In exchange, the US and five other nations Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China agreed to ease an estimated $7 billion worth of international sanctions against Iran's crippled economy for a six-month period while negotiators try to broker a final settlement.
The next round of talks is set to commence in Vienna on February 18.



Read more: Iran FM: We may recognize Israel after Palestinian deal | The Times of Israel http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-fm-we-may-recognize-israel-after-palestinian-deal

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