Epigraph:
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God. (Matthew 5:9)
President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu
Iran nuclear: Obama faces sceptics in Congress
Source: BBC
The White House read-out of the half-hour call President Obama made from Air Force One to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pretty bland. You have to imagine the exasperated silences, the raised voices, the emphasis yourself.
I don’t know, of course. Maybe it was perfectly amiable. But there is a cadence to the text that suggests otherwise. “President Obama called… The two leaders reaffirmed… The President noted… The President told…” and “The President underscored that the United States will remain firm in our commitment to Israel, which has good reason to be sceptical about Iran’s intentions.”
Israel is, according to reports, cross that it was kept in the dark about the secret talks between the US and Iran. There is no doubt this deal makes history. It is the first agreement between the US and Iran since the Iranian revolution and the hostage crisis of 1979-80. That alone is enough to alarm some at home and abroad.
The deal itself is modest enough. It in effect freezes Iran’s nuclear programme, in return for the lifting of a handful of sanctions, making it easier for Iran to sell cars, oil, petrochemicals and gold.
Obama admits Israel has good reason for scepticism over Iran nuclear deal
Source: Guardian UK
White House courts critics as president seeks support for nuclear deal with Iran with a flurry of phone calls to foreign allies
Barack Obama sought to cement a rare policy breakthrough over Iran this weekend with a flurry of phone calls designed to shore up support in Congress and reassure sceptical foreign allies.
After months of domestic policy setbacks, the agreement in Geneva of a deal to place strict restraints on Iran’s nuclear programme, in return for an easing of sanctions and with the aim of preventing the country developing a nuclear weapons capacity, promises to mark a turning point in the president’s troubled second term. But the White House must first convince critics in Washington that negotiators have not conceded sanctions relief too readily, and Obama is anxious to deter efforts in the Senate to impose fresh economic sanctions.
Efforts to win over key lawmakers began within hours of the deal being struck in Geneva on Saturday night and continued on Sunday with a phone call to Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu, an arch-critic of the agreement.
The White House said “the two leaders reaffirmed their shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon” during the phone call, and said that Obama “told the prime minister that he wants the United States and Israel to begin consultations immediately regarding our efforts to negotiate a comprehensive solution”.
The White House added that Obama “underscored that the United States will remain firm in our commitment to Israel, which has good reason to be skeptical about Iran’s intentions. The president and prime minister agreed to stay in close contact on this issue as the P5+1 [the US, China, Russia, France, Great Britain and Germany] and Iran negotiate a long-term solution over the next six months”.
Early reaction in Washington suggested that the six-month deal’s package of more intrusive inspections and enrichment restrictions, while not enough to persuade all Republicans, may prove sufficiently robust to avoid an embarrassing rebellion on Capitol Hill.
Amanpour: Negotiated deal as alternative to war
By Christiane Amanpour, CNN
When the deal between Iran and the major world powers was announced in Geneva, Iranian reporters greeted Foreign Minister Javad Zarif with cheers at his press conference, and Iranians gave him and his team a hero’s welcome when they landed back home in Tehran. Such is the desire to get past this decades long crisis.
Many are cautiously hailing the six-month interim accord – which sees Iran freeze and rollback significant elements of its nuclear program in return for relatively modest and reversible U.S. sanctions relief.
One senior Western intelligence official describes it as significant in delaying Iran’s program and pushing back its so-called breakout ability towards a nuclear weapon.
Yet the official predicts a much more difficult set of negotiations ahead, which are aimed at finally settling Iran’s nuclear parameters as a limited and entirely peaceful program, in return for a total lifting of sanctions. This will require each side giving up much more than they have done this weekend in Geneva.
The Muslim Times’ Editor’s comment
Hats off to President Obama on this historic deal. This may over decades become his biggest legacy. This is true leadership, to lead rather than be led by polls and lobbyists and go for the easy way out.
Categories: Americas, Iran, Israel, United States
Well, ‘Hats off – but …’. The sanctions are still in place. The small relieve is more cosmetic. A lot still needs to be done. Will Obama deliver? Let’s wait and see (I have no hat …).