Iran Newsclips, February 6, 2015
david.cutler
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Kerry meets Iran minister in Munich on nuclear talks, Reuters
Editorial: The emerging Iran nuclear deal raises major concerns, Washington Post
Davenport: The Washington Post and the Myth of “Eliminating” Iran’s Nuclear “Potential,” Arms Control Now
Ignatius: The United States should think---and act-- like a superpower, Washington Post
Mousavian: Iran ready for a nuclear deal, USA Today
In Iran, as in U.S., Nuclear Deal is Hotly Debated, Wall Street Journal
Yoffie: The Republicans will be no tougher on Iran than Obama, Haaretz
Zuckerman: Time Is on Iran's Side, US News and World Report
Hunter: Is Iran the Leader of a Shia International? Lobe Log
The Iranian Politicians Rumored To Have U.S. Green Cards, RFE/RL
Uruguay expels Iran diplomat over bomb scare: Israel media, AFP
Marriage in Iran: The No.1 mullahs dating agency, The Economist
Kerry meets Iran minister in Munich on nuclear talks, Reuters, February 6, 2015
"Their meeting was focused on the ongoing nuclear negotiations and they discussed the recent meetings of the P5+1 (six world powers)," a senior U.S. State Department official said on condition of anonymity. "Secretary Kerry also reiterated our desire to move toward a political framework by the end of March," the official added. "They agreed to stay in close touch and that they would try to meet again soon." The meeting, which included senior European Union official Helga Schmid, took place on the sidelines of the annual Munich Security Conference. Kerry and Zarif have met repeatedly in recent months in an attempt to break the deadlock in the nuclear negotiations. Zarif is also expected to meet France's and Russia's foreign ministers in Munich. … While progress has been made in narrowing differences on how many uranium enrichment centrifuges Iran will be allowed to operate under a long-term agreement, officials close to the talks say hard-to-bridge differences remain, particularly on the timing of the lifting of sanctions and the duration of any deal.
Editorial: The emerging Iran nuclear deal raises major concerns, Washington Post, February 5, 2015
Where it once aimed to eliminate Iran’s ability to enrich uranium, the administration now appears ready to accept an infrastructure of thousands of Iranian centrifuges. It says its goal is to limit and monitor that industrial base so that Iran could not produce the material for a warhead in less than a year. As several senators pointed out last month during a hearing of the Foreign Relations Committee, the prospective deal would leave Iran as a nuclear-threshold state while theoretically giving the world time to respond if Tehran chose to build a weapon. Even these limited restrictions would remain in force for only a specified number of years, after which Iran would be free to expand its production of potential bomb materials.
Davenport: The Washington Post and the Myth of “Eliminating” Iran’s Nuclear “Potential,” Arms Control Now, February 6, 2015
No nuclear deal with Iran can turn back the clock and erase that knowledge. It is not possible, as the editorial suggests, to “eliminate” Iran’s “potential to produce nuclear weapons.” But it is possible through a comprehensive agreement to verifiably limit and monitor a peaceful Iranian nuclear program. … Rather, the Obama administration and its P5+1 allies (China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom) are rightly pursuing a combination of limits on Iran’s nuclear program and stringent monitoring and verification. The goal of this package is to block Iran’s uranium and plutonium pathways to nuclear weapons and to guard against any covert nuclear weapons program.
Ignatius: The United States should think---and act-- like a superpower, Washington Post, February 5, 2015
Powerful countries such as the United States have the wind at their back. They don’t need to rush things in the clamor of partisan politics and 24-hour news cycles. That’s why I hope the Obama administration won’t make too many concessions to Iran in its eagerness to reach a nuclear deal. If the Iranians are truly ready to turn away from confrontation and verifiably unplug their nuclear program, fine. If not, let’s wait. In a world of low oil prices and an Iranian population desperate to end its isolation, time doesn’t favor the Iranian hard-liners.
Mousavian: Iran ready for a nuclear deal, USA Today, February 6, 2015
Put together, all the above confidence-building measures — which no other NPT member has ever undertaken — should be reassuring enough for the world powers on verifiable transparency for the Iranian program and, more importantly, that the "presumed paths to the bomb" are effectively blocked. That's the manifestation of Iranian goodwill, flexibility and compromise, a clear, unmistakable outcome of the Rouhani administration's outlook and determination, and the professional performance of the new negotiating team.
In Iran, as in U.S., Nuclear Deal is Hotly Debated, Wall Street Journal, February 5, 2015
The parallel debate in Iran is particularly loud in parliament, which remains stocked with hard-liners from the era of the last president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , whose administration set new standards for fire-breathing rhetoric and aggressive foreign policy. There are, however, key differences between the U.S. and Iranian political landscapes. The biggest one is that Iranian lawmakers, while able to influence public opinion, can’t really pass binding legislation on the nuclear issue.
Yoffie: The Republicans will be no tougher on Iran than Obama, Haaretz, February 6, 2015
But the idea that Republicans, conservatives and the American people line up on one side of the issue while Obama and the liberals take the other is a fantasy. I bet not one American in 100 could explain the precise difference between the administration’s position on Iran and that of the Republicans. Both sides don't want Iran to attain nuclear weapons and have said that all options must be on the table to prevent that from happening. And both sides have supported tough sanctions against the Iranian regime. Both also believe in imposing more severe sanctions should the talks fail.
Zuckerman: Time Is on Iran's Side, US News and World Report, February 6, 2015
Iran believes time is on its side to build a nuclear bomb and the means to deliver it. Only an optimist blind to the history of Iran’s clandestine ways and the labyrinthine story of the negotiations from 2003 could think otherwise following our grant to Iran of a second extension of time.
Hunter: Is Iran the Leader of a Shia International? Lobe Log, February 4, 2015
In short, it’s absurd to talk of a Shia International, and certainly no Shia Comintern exists under Iranian leadership. The demonization of the Shias in recent years and now talk of a Perso-Shia Empire have been for specific political ends, including finding a diversion from the Palestinian problem and cementing an anti-Iran coalition of Sunnis and Israel. But this strategy has not made the Palestinian conflict disappear. It has only given us the Islamic State and a host of al-Qaeda franchises.
The Iranian Politicians Rumored To Have U.S. Green Cards, RFE/RL, February 6, 2015
Nahavandian is far from the only Iranian official or lawmaker whose name has been linked to U.S. green cards. Media have also made suggestions that current Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has a green card or has applied for one. The U.S.-educated Iranian foreign minister rejected the claims during his 2013 confirmation hearing before parliament, saying he had never applied for permanent U.S. residence despite being eligible to do so for 10 years. He also said his children were living in Iran.
Uruguay expels Iran diplomat over bomb scare: Israel media, AFP, February 6, 2015
Citing an unidentified "senior official in Jerusalem", it said the diplomat was expelled two weeks ago and although Uruguayan officials briefed Israel on the move they made no public announcement. "Investigations carried out by Uruguay’s intelligence services after the discovery of the device yielded information pointing to a possible involvement of someone at the Iranian embassy," Haaretz's diplomatic correspondent wrote.
Marriage in Iran: The No.1 mullahs dating agency, The Economist, February 6, 2015
At a loss to explain why most youngsters are delaying marriage or altogether shunning the idea of a happy union, Iran’s government is taking action. In Hamedan province, a senior ayatollah recently warned unmarried public workers to find a spouse within a year or risk losing their jobs. A gentler approach, announced in January, is the launch of a matchmaker website which, the government hopes, could lead to as many as 100,000 marriages. For those who fret about such things, there is much to stoke concern. The traditional family unit is falling apart in Iran, as elsewhere: around one in three marriages in the capital, Tehran, fails.