SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Iran: Let's Make a Deal
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif says that sanctions relief key, but that Iran is prepared to settle nuclear arrangement once and for all
Mar 02, 2015
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touched down in the United States for a contentious two-day visit specifically designed to derail a pending nuclear agreement between Iran, the United States and other world powers, the Iranian foreign minister on Monday made his nation's position clear and said a deal is close so long as the Obama administration can muster the political will to see it through.
What is primary, said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif from Geneva--where he was attending a meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission--is that economic and trade sanctions aimed at Tehran come to an end.
"Our negotiating partners, particularly the Western countries and particularly the United States," Zarif told Reuters, "must once and for all come to the understanding that sanctions and agreement don't go together. If they want an agreement, sanctions must go... We believe all sanctions must be lifted."
Zarif continued, "We have made some progress since last time and if there is the political will... we can have an agreement this time."
On Sunday evening, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Switzerland for three days of talks between the P5+1 nations (the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, China and Germany) and Zarif and his Iranian delegation. The talks themselves will take place in the lakeside town of Montreaux over three days beginning Monday.
Also on the sidelines of a meeting of the UNHRC in Geneva earlier in the day, Kerry was tight-lipped about his upcoming meeting with Zarif. "The clock is ticking," Kerry reportedly said of the pending deal. He further indicated it was in neither party's interest to discuss what issues still remain outstanding.
Back in Washington D.C., as the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) readies to receive Netanyahu on Monday, U.S. lawmakers are making last-minute decisions on whether or not they will attend a speech the prime minister is scheduled to deliver to a joint-session of Congress on Tuesday.
So far, nearly forty Democrats have said they will not attend Netanyahu's speech and the Obama administration has publicly criticized the prime minister for his interference in the debate regarding the talks in Switzerland and urging Congress to sabotage the deal by passing even more sanctions which all observers understand is the surest way to sabotage the prospects of a deal with Tehran.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touched down in the United States for a contentious two-day visit specifically designed to derail a pending nuclear agreement between Iran, the United States and other world powers, the Iranian foreign minister on Monday made his nation's position clear and said a deal is close so long as the Obama administration can muster the political will to see it through.
What is primary, said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif from Geneva--where he was attending a meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission--is that economic and trade sanctions aimed at Tehran come to an end.
"Our negotiating partners, particularly the Western countries and particularly the United States," Zarif told Reuters, "must once and for all come to the understanding that sanctions and agreement don't go together. If they want an agreement, sanctions must go... We believe all sanctions must be lifted."
Zarif continued, "We have made some progress since last time and if there is the political will... we can have an agreement this time."
On Sunday evening, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Switzerland for three days of talks between the P5+1 nations (the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, China and Germany) and Zarif and his Iranian delegation. The talks themselves will take place in the lakeside town of Montreaux over three days beginning Monday.
Also on the sidelines of a meeting of the UNHRC in Geneva earlier in the day, Kerry was tight-lipped about his upcoming meeting with Zarif. "The clock is ticking," Kerry reportedly said of the pending deal. He further indicated it was in neither party's interest to discuss what issues still remain outstanding.
Back in Washington D.C., as the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) readies to receive Netanyahu on Monday, U.S. lawmakers are making last-minute decisions on whether or not they will attend a speech the prime minister is scheduled to deliver to a joint-session of Congress on Tuesday.
So far, nearly forty Democrats have said they will not attend Netanyahu's speech and the Obama administration has publicly criticized the prime minister for his interference in the debate regarding the talks in Switzerland and urging Congress to sabotage the deal by passing even more sanctions which all observers understand is the surest way to sabotage the prospects of a deal with Tehran.
As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu touched down in the United States for a contentious two-day visit specifically designed to derail a pending nuclear agreement between Iran, the United States and other world powers, the Iranian foreign minister on Monday made his nation's position clear and said a deal is close so long as the Obama administration can muster the political will to see it through.
What is primary, said Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif from Geneva--where he was attending a meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission--is that economic and trade sanctions aimed at Tehran come to an end.
"Our negotiating partners, particularly the Western countries and particularly the United States," Zarif told Reuters, "must once and for all come to the understanding that sanctions and agreement don't go together. If they want an agreement, sanctions must go... We believe all sanctions must be lifted."
Zarif continued, "We have made some progress since last time and if there is the political will... we can have an agreement this time."
On Sunday evening, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Switzerland for three days of talks between the P5+1 nations (the U.S., U.K., Russia, France, China and Germany) and Zarif and his Iranian delegation. The talks themselves will take place in the lakeside town of Montreaux over three days beginning Monday.
Also on the sidelines of a meeting of the UNHRC in Geneva earlier in the day, Kerry was tight-lipped about his upcoming meeting with Zarif. "The clock is ticking," Kerry reportedly said of the pending deal. He further indicated it was in neither party's interest to discuss what issues still remain outstanding.
Back in Washington D.C., as the powerful American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) readies to receive Netanyahu on Monday, U.S. lawmakers are making last-minute decisions on whether or not they will attend a speech the prime minister is scheduled to deliver to a joint-session of Congress on Tuesday.
So far, nearly forty Democrats have said they will not attend Netanyahu's speech and the Obama administration has publicly criticized the prime minister for his interference in the debate regarding the talks in Switzerland and urging Congress to sabotage the deal by passing even more sanctions which all observers understand is the surest way to sabotage the prospects of a deal with Tehran.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.