Tuesday, December 31, 2013
British lawmakers to visit Iran to help rebuild ties
Reuters: “British parliamentarians are to visit Iran next week to try to organize a reciprocal visit by Iranian lawmakers, the latest step aimed at improving relations between the two countries.”
NSA spyware gives agency full access to the iPhone -- report
Leaked documents shared by Der Spiegel show that a piece of NSA spyware called DROPOUTJEEP can access pretty much everything on the iPhone.
Monday, December 23, 2013
Sunday, December 22, 2013
English is now the global language. How come?
"The new world language seems to be good for everyone--except the speakers of minority tongues, and native English-speakers too perhaps
IT IS everywhere. Some 380m people speak it as their first language and perhaps two-thirds as many again as their second. A billion are learning it, about a third of the world's population are in some sense exposed to it and by 2050, it is predicted, half the world will be more or less proficient in it. It is the language of globalisation--of international business, politics and diplomacy. It is the language of computers and the Internet."
Israeli soccer hooligans burn Quran
During a Wednesday football match, fans of Israeli soccer team Beitar Jerusalem burned a copy of the Quran, the Muslim holy book, and insulted Prophet Muhammad.
A spy world reshaped by Edward Snowden
Leaks from the former NSA contractor have been so illuminating that experts say they mark a turning point in U.S. intelligence operations.
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Former U.S. President George W. Bush OK’d NSA spying after 9/11 attacks
Surveillance Documents also show how a court gained oversight of the data collection program
Thursday, December 19, 2013
NSA Spying Sinks Multi-Billion Dollar Fighter Jet Contract With Brazil
"In addition to damaging the reputation and moral standing of the U.S., the NSA spying scandal is damaging U.S. economic prospects by making U.S. tech companies less competitive.
Now the economic damage has spread, causing Boeing to take a big hit in losing out on a multi-billion dollar fighter jet deal with Brazil." Read Article HERE
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Video-BBC:Police chiefs removed in Turkey after bribery arrests
BBC VIDEO of Turkish police chiefs who oversaw a wave of high-profile arrests for bribery have been sacked from their posts in Istanbul, Turkish media say.
Turkey: Major Corruption Scandal threatens the political establishment in Turkey
Turkish police target sons of government ministers & businessmen close to prime minister Erdogan in corruption probe; Turkish PM claims the corruption investigation is a “conspiracy” against his government. High-profile figures among 52 detained in major corruption operation in Turkey
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Monday, December 16, 2013
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
British Spy captured by Iran
Iranian authorities have arrested a British individual in southern Iran on charges of spying.
According to Con Coughlin, "ever since British adventurers - be they soldiers, diplomats, travellers or spies - became a regular fixture at the heart of the Persian court in the early 19th century, it would be something of an understatement to say that the two countries have regarded each other with a healthy dose of mutual suspicion."
ABC, NYT Repeatedly Lied About CIA Operative Robert Levinson
How several American news media kept information about the CIA connections to Robert Levinson who went to Iran on a mission to get information for CIA.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
NSA uses Google cookies to pinpoint targets for hacking
According to a recent article in the Washington Post, "the National Security Agency is secretly piggybacking on the tools that enable Internet advertisers to track consumers, using "cookies" and location data to pinpoint targets for government hacking and to bolster surveillance."
Bahman Bakhtiari
Bahman Bakhtiari
The Most Repressive Countries in the World ( Freedom House 2013)
According to the 2013 report by the Freedom House, the most repressive countries in the world are the following:
Eritrea Equatorial Guinea N Korea Saudi Arabia Somalia Sudan Syria Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
Eritrea Equatorial Guinea N Korea Saudi Arabia Somalia Sudan Syria Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
Monday, December 9, 2013
Canada set up spy posts for U.S., new Snowden document shows
CBC withholds entire Snowden document, spins scoop show how much the NSA praises CSEC.
DAVID PATRIKARAKOS: Iran, From Enemy to Ally
"The recent nuclear deal with Iran has caused a predictable furor among Middle East hawks. But it offers an opportunity for a much bigger breakthrough: rapprochement and, eventually, even strategic cooperation with Iran." Read Full Article Here.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Nelson Mandela: Nobel Acceptance Speech
Your Majesty the King,
Your Royal Highness,
Esteemed Members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee,
Honourable Prime Minister, Madame Gro Harlem Brundtland, Ministers, Members of Parliament and Ambassadors, Fellow Laureate, Mr. F.W. de Klerk, Distinguished Guests,
Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Honourable Prime Minister, Madame Gro Harlem Brundtland, Ministers, Members of Parliament and Ambassadors, Fellow Laureate, Mr. F.W. de Klerk, Distinguished Guests,
Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I extend my heartfelt thanks to the Norwegian Nobel Committee for elevating us to the status of a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate my compatriot and fellow laureate, State President F.W. de Klerk, on his receipt of this high honour.
Together, we join two distinguished South Africans, the late Chief Albert Lutuliand His Grace Archbishop Desmond Tutu, to whose seminal contributions to the peaceful struggle against the evil system of apartheid you paid well-deserved tribute by awarding them the Nobel Peace Prize.
It will not be presumptuous of us if we also add, among our predecessors, the name of another outstanding Nobel Peace Prize winner, the late Rev Martin Luther King Jr.
He, too, grappled with and died in the effort to make a contribution to the just solution of the same great issues of the day which we have had to face as South Africans.
We speak here of the challenge of the dichotomies of war and peace, violence and non-violence, racism and human dignity, oppression and repression and liberty and human rights, poverty and freedom from want.
We stand here today as nothing more than a representative of the millions of our people who dared to rise up against a social system whose very essence is war, violence, racism, oppression, repression and the impoverishment of an entire people.
I am also here today as a representative of the millions of people across the globe, the anti-apartheid movement, the governments and organisations that joined with us, not to fight against South Africa as a country or any of its peoples, but to oppose an inhuman system and sue for a speedy end to the apartheid crime against humanity.
These countless human beings, both inside and outside our country, had the nobility of spirit to stand in the path of tyranny and injustice, without seeking selfish gain. They recognised that an injury to one is an injury to all and therefore acted together in defense of justice and a common human decency.
Because of their courage and persistence for many years, we can, today, even set the dates when all humanity will join together to celebrate one of the outstanding human victories of our century.
When that moment comes, we shall, together, rejoice in a common victory over racism, apartheid and white minority rule.
That triumph will finally bring to a close a history of five hundred years of African colonisation that began with the establishment of the Portuguese empire.
Thus, it will mark a great step forward in history and also serve as a common pledge of the peoples of the world to fight racism, wherever it occurs and whatever guise it assumes.
At the southern tip of the continent of Africa, a rich reward in the making, an invaluable gift is in the preparation for those who suffered in the name of all humanity when they sacrified everything - for liberty, peace, human dignity and human fulfillment.
This reward will not be measured in money. Nor can it be reckoned in the collective price of the rare metals and precious stones that rest in the bowels of the African soil we tread in the footsteps of our ancestors.
It will and must be measured by the happiness and welfare of the children, at once the most vulnerable citizens in any society and the greatest of our treasures.
The children must, at last, play in the open veld, no longer tortured by the pangs of hunger or ravaged by disease or threatened with the scourge of ignorance, molestation and abuse, and no longer required to engage in deeds whose gravity exceeds the demands of their tender years.
In front of this distinguished audience, we commit the new South Africa to the relentless pursuit of the purposes defined in the World Declaration on the Survival, Protection and Development of Children.1
The reward of which we have spoken will and must also be measured by the happiness and welfare of the mothers and fathers of these children, who must walk the earth without fear of being robbed, killed for political or material profit, or spat upon because they are beggars.
They too must be relieved of the heavy burden of despair which they carry in their hearts, born of hunger, homelessness and unemployment.
The value of that gift to all who have suffered will and must be measured by the happiness and welfare of all the people of our country, who will have torn down the inhuman walls that divide them.
These great masses will have turned their backs on the grave insult to human dignity which described some as masters and others as servants, and transformed each into a predator whose survival depended on the destruction of the other.
The value of our shared reward will and must be measured by the joyful peace which will triumph, because the common humanity that bonds both black and white into one human race, will have said to each one of us that we shall all live like the children of paradise.
Thus shall we live, because we will have created a society which recognises that all people are born equal, with each entitled in equal measure to life, liberty, prosperity, human rights and good governance.
Such a society should never allow again that there should be prisoners of conscience nor that any person's human right should be violated.
Neither should it ever happen that once more the avenues to peaceful change are blocked by usurpers who seek to take power away from the people, in pursuit of their own, ignoble purposes.
In relation to these matters, we appeal to those who govern Burma that they release our fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, and engage her and those she represents in serious dialogue, for the benefit of all the people of Burma.2
We pray that those who have the power to do so will, without further delay, permit that she uses her talents and energies for the greater good of the people of her country and humanity as a whole.
Far from the rough and tumble of the politics of our own country. I would like to take this opportunity to join the Norwegian Nobel Committee and pay tribute to my joint laureate. Mr. F.W. de Klerk.
He had the courage to admit that a terrible wrong had been done to our country and people through the imposition of the system of apartheid.
He had the foresight to understand and accept that all the people of South Africa must through negotiations and as equal participants in the process, together determine what they want to make of their future.
But there are still some within our country who wrongly believe they can make a contribution to the cause of justice and peace by clinging to the shibboleths that have been proved to spell nothing but disaster.
It remains our hope that these, too, will be blessed with sufficient reason to realise that history will not be denied and that the new society cannot be created by reproducing the repugnant past, however refined or enticingly repackaged.
We would also like to take advantage of this occasion to pay tribute to the many formations of the democratic movement of our country, including the members of our Patriotic Front, who have themselves played a central role in bringing our country as close to the democratic transformation as it is today.
We are happy that many representatives of these formations, including people who have served or are serving in the "homeland" structures, came with us to Oslo. They too must share the accolade which the Nobel Peace Prize confers.
We live with the hope that as she battles to remake herself, South Africa, will be like a microcosm of the new world that is striving to be born.
This must be a world of democracy and respect for human rights, a world freed from the horrors of poverty, hunger, deprivation and ignorance, relieved of the threat and the scourge of civil wars and external aggression and unburdened of the great tragedy of millions forced to become refugees.
The processes in which South Africa and Southern Africa as a whole are engaged, beckon and urge us all that we take this tide at the flood and make of this region as a living example of what all people of conscience would like the world to be.
We do not believe that this Nobel Peace Prize is intended as a commendation for matters that have happened and passed.
We hear the voices which say that it is an appeal from all those, throughout the universe, who sought an end to the system of apartheid.
We understand their call, that we devote what remains of our lives to the use of our country's unique and painful experience to demonstrate, in practice, that the normal condition for human existence is democracy, justice, peace, non-racism, non-sexism, prosperity for everybody, a healthy environment and equality and solidarity among the peoples.
Moved by that appeal and inspired by the eminence you have thrust upon us, we undertake that we too will do what we can to contribute to the renewal of our world so that none should, in future, be described as the "wretched of the earth".3
Let it never be said by future generations that indifference, cynicism or selfishness made us fail to live up to the ideals of humanism which the Nobel Peace Prize encapsulates.
Let the strivings of us all, prove Martin Luther King Jr. to have been correct, when he said that humanity can no longer be tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war.
Let the efforts of us all, prove that he was not a mere dreamer when he spoke of the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace being more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.
Let a new age dawn!
1. The Declaration of the Rights of the Child, approved unanimously by the United Nations General Assembly on 20 November 1959, proclaimed ten fundamental rights, including those Mandela mentions. .
3. "Arise, ye wretched of the earth" is a line in the English version of the Internationale, a revolutionary socialist hymn written in Paris in 1871 and sung thereafter by socialists and communists.
From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1991-1995, Editor Irwin Abrams, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 1999
Speech by Nelson Mandela on receiving the Freedom of Durban
Speech by President Mandela on receiving the Freedom of Durban
Your Worship, Mayor Obed Mlaba
Mayors of Local Councils
Distinguished Guests,
Citizens of Durban,
I am truly honoured to be receiving the Freedom of Metropolitan Durban today. In extending to me the privileges of the citizens of this gre3at city you are, I know, honouring not one individual, but the whole South African nation.
It is they who overcame the divisions of centuries, by reaching out to one another. In so doing they have made our country a symbol to the world of renewed hope, of the possibility of the peaceful resolution of even the most intractable conflicts. It is they who mandated our representatives to write a constitution which embodied the noble ideals of unity in diversity, and tolerance and respect for all our cultures and religions.
In paying this tribute, through me, to the people of South Africa; in this gathering and in a ceremony which reflect the diversity of our land, the city of Durban is declaring its commitment to those aspirations and ideals.
I am therefore proud to accept the honour, in all humility, from a city in which I feel at home whenever I visit it.
Durban's hospitable attraction is, it seems, no recent phenomenon. Historical records show that even before it was colonised by the British, sailors from the east and west settled among the local inhabitants and refused opportunities to return to their homelands. They were made to feel welcome in an area that had already become accustomed to a harmonious diversity of peoples.
Durban's potential must have been recognised by the indentured labourers who chose to remain here after freedom was granted to them from the 1960s.
Today, this busiest port of Africa, this haven for investors and holiday makers alike, is home to part of the souls of many nations and cultures, precious threads in the rich diversity of our African nation.
The splendid way in which Durban hosted the Non-Aligned Movement Summit last year did South Africa proud. It makes us look forward with confidence to the many international events which our country will host in this city.
As much as Durban is associated with hospitality and diversity, it is also remembered as a place of immense suffering, war and sadness.
For was it not here that the indigenous peoples fought bravely against military invasion by colonising forces? And here where the first concerted attempt at group area segregation emerged during the 1870's, long before apartheid? And here that some of the cruellest acts of savagery were enacted, like the Durban by-laws requiring Africans to be dipped with their belongings in a disinfectant tank on entering the city?
And yet out of this ferment great leaders emerged who helped shape the world's understanding of human development. Those who revere freedom and human dignity around the world know of this city and region because of Mahatma Gandhi and Chief Albert Luthuli.
Their legacy, along with that of people like the Revered John Dube and Isaiah Shembe, Bishop Colenso, Sobantu and Dorothy Nyembe left an indelible mark on our country's history.
Many organisations which laid the foundation stones of South Africa's vibrant democracy, including my own organisation, the African National Congress, have drawn sustenance from the soil of KwaZulu-Natal.
Much has been said before about the calibre of leadership and the legacy of those early pioneers of resistance. But today let us also honour the current political leaders who have done so much to bring peace.
When we visited KwaZulu-Natal in 1990, as the opening of the prison doors and the unbanning of organisations signalled the beginning of our transition to democracy, this province was gripped in bloody violence. There were many who believed that the call to throw weapons into the sea would never be answered.
But since then immense progress has been made, thanks to the efforts of people from across the political spectrum. Although many of us take it for granted, the way in which political violence subsided and communal co-operation increased will be remembered as one of the success stories of our democracy.
We should pay tribute to all those who have worked so hard at achieving peace. But even though there has been much progress, the task will only be complete when every citizen can feel safe in bed at night; in exercising the right to vote; and in being able to express opinions freely.
As we approach South Africa's second democratic election, we should all be concerned to eradicate the remaining pockets of violence. And we should give no space to those who would like to see the province plunged back into political violence, in order to hold back progress. All people of influence - political leaders from every party; traditional leaders; religious and community leaders - all of us have an obligation to ensure a climate of tolerance. We must emerge from this election, whatever our differences, more united as a nation and therefore strengthened in our capacity to bring about even more change than we have already achieved.
Many people have been sceptical of our capacity to realise the ideal of a rainbow nation. It is true that South Africa was often brought to the brink of destruction because of differences. But let us re-affirm this one thing here today; it is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us; between those who cherish democracy and those who do not!
As freedom loving people, we want to see our country prosper and provide basic services to all. For our freedom can never be complete or our democracy stable unless the basic needs of our people are met. We have seen the stability that development brings. And in turn we know that peace is the most powerful weapon that any community or nation can have for development.
As we rebuild our country, we should remain vigilant against the enemies of development and democracy, even if they come from within our own ranks. Violence will not bring us closer to our objectives.
All of us should ask ourselves the question; have I done everything in my power to bring about lasting peace and prosperity in my city and my country?
And when we are satisfied with our answer, we should ask that question of our constituencies. Let us enjoin them to work together with the police in freeing our society of criminals and mischief makers. Let us ask them to behave in an exemplary fashion, that would make Gandhiji and Chief Luthuli proud.
Let us live up to the expectations which the world has of us, as a nation which has rekindled hope for reconciliation and peaceful resolution of differences.
People of Durban,
I thank you for honouring me with the freedom of your city. As long as I have strength, I will try to redeem this honour.
Quotes from Nelson Mandela
"During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."
" Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life. While poverty persists, there is no true freedom. The steps that are needed from the developed nations are clear."
Opening of Trial on Charges of Sabotage,
Pretoria, South Africa, April 20, 1964
"We hold it as
an inviolable principle that racism must be opposed by all the means that
humanity has at its disposal. Wherever it occurs it has the potential to result
in a systematic and comprehensive denial of human rights to those who are
discriminated against. This is because all racism is inherently a challenge to
human rights, because it denies the view that every human being is a person of
equal worth with any other, because it treats entire peoples as subhuman. "
Statement at a Special Meeting of the UN Special Committee Against Apartheid,
New York June 22, 1990
Speech Delivered at Live 8, Johannesburg, July
2, 2005
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
NSA tracking cellphone locations worldwide, Snowden documents show
According to an article in the Washington Post, documents revealed by Edward Snowden show that the NSA "is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have been previously unimaginable."
Monday, December 2, 2013
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Netanyahu orders Mossad to expose Iranian breaches of interim deal
Netanyahu orders intelligence services to find ‘smoking gun’ proving Iran’s duplicity, Sunday Times reports, in bid to undermine Obama strategy.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Interview with Zbigniew Brzezinski
Very informative interview with one of the most knowledgeable foreign policy experts in the United States. ”Whether weighing in on the Iran deal or calling to shrink the U.S. military, the 85-year-old Poland-born academic still plays a mean game of tennis each day and is a regular on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, where his daughter, Mika, is co-host. Here, Brzezinski shares candid reflections on his remarkable life with Charles Gati, a scholar at the Johns Hopkins School for Advanced International Studies—as well as his skeptical thoughts on promoting human rights, his complex feelings toward Israel and the heart-stopping 3 a.m. phone call warning him of a nuclear attack.”
Monday, November 25, 2013
Will Iran define President Obama’s legacy ?
Even before becoming President, then Senator Obama campaigning for his first presidency warned George Bush and Dick Cheney about Iran and that “they must hear loud and clear from the American people and the Congress: You do not have our support, and you do not have our authorization, to launch another war.” Obama reminded the public that the fateful decision to invade Iraq in 2003 had only enhanced Iranian influence. Instead of issuing threats, he argued for direct negotiations and diplomacy with Iran. Following his election as President in 2008, Obama sent letters to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. In his letters to the Iranian leader, Obama urged strategic engagement with Iran, and called on the Iranian leader to resolve the nuclear dispute. Yet, in 2009 Iran was beset with internal uprisings following disputed presidential elections that kept Ahmadinejad in power for another four years. After the 2009 elections, a major political rift between Khamenei and Ahmadinejad undermined Khamenei’s reputation and influence inside the country. After lending strong support to Ahmadinejad, the latter turned out to be the worst nightmare for Khamenei. By 2013 presidential elections and arrival of Hassan Rouhani, Khamenei had been weakened and was forced to accept the results of 2013 elections that led to the emergence of a moderate “who ran on a reformist platform, promising a solution to Iran’s nuclear negotiations and the Iranian people’s need for relaxing the sanctions.” Obama’s persistence and patience paid off, and now he has a historical chance to make his legacy with Iran.
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Kuwait Airways flight lands in Iraq for first time in 23 years
A Kuwait Airways flight landed in the city of Najaf in Iraq, the first first flight in 23 year since the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Thomas Friedman of the New York Times writes that it’s time to cut a deal with Iran
Writing from Abu Dhabi, UAE, NYT columnist Thomas Friedman who attended a security conference in UAE makes the following observations: “Never have I seen Israel and America’s core Arab allies working more in concert to stymie a major foreign policy initiative of a sitting U.S. president, and never have I seen more lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans — more willing to take Israel’s side against their own president’s.” Yet, this unlikely alliance will only strengthen Iran’s determination to negotiate a deal with the West.
Le Monde diplomatique: France’s new neocons
Exclusive report by Le Monde diplomatique reveals the reasons for the French obstruction of a nuclear deal with Iran. According to the article, ”France’s foreign policy seems to have taken a decisive neoconservative turn, independently of the political party in power.”
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
Lost Legitimacy : Why Governing Is Harder Than Ever
While emerging markets like Turkey, India, and China move forward with their economic growth, their leaders and political elites confront new challenges "as citizens use new tools to make new demands, coordinate protest, and pool their collective power. Governments of all kinds are scrambling for short-term solutions to help them through to the next business cycle, the next election, the next political transition. The result is a global crisis of legitimacy."
Bahman Bakhtiari
Monday, November 18, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Russia: The Populist Threat to Putin's Power
Fiona Hill and Hannah Thoburn from Brookings have an interesting article about Vladimir Putin.They ask if he is "really the most powerful person in the world ?" The article gives a good analysis of the domestic situation in Russia, and the potential populist movements that may arise to challenge Putin.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Typhoon Haiyan: at least 10,000 reported dead in Philippine province
Estimated death toll soars as path of destruction leaves many parts of Philippines inaccessible to government and aid officials. About 70-80% of the buildings in the area in the path of Haiyan in Leyte province was destroyed,
Israeli Intelligence Sources Contradict Bibi, Congress on Iran
In this article by Marsha Cohen, she points out how several high-level Israeli intelligence and defense officials are far more receptive to a nuclear deal with Iran, and do not want Israel to pursue a policy of endless confrontation with Iran.
Bahman Baktiari
Bahman Baktiari
Saturday, November 9, 2013
Financial Times: Iran nuclear talks end without a deal
By Geoff Dyer in Washington, James Blitz in London and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
November 10, 2013
"Three days of intense negotiations in Geneva failed to reach an interim agreement to freeze Iran’s nuclear programme, despite the optimistic predictions that had accompanied the talks.
High-level talks between Iran and six world powers are due to resume on November 20, but the continued differences in Geneva underlined the considerable obstacles in reaching a lasting agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme.
Diplomats remained locked in talks past midnight as they tried to hammer out the first major agreement over Iran’s nuclear ambitions in a decade, but were unable to conclude the much-anticipated deal.
Lady Ashton, EU foreign policy chief, told a press conference at the conclusion of the talks that there had been a lot of “concrete progress but some differences remain”.
John Kerry, US secretary of state, said after the talks closed that “we are closer now than when we came.” He added: “With good work and good faith, we can in fact secure our goal.”
The talks appeared to falter in part because of objections raised by France, which alongside the US, UK, Germany, China and Russia, is one of the countries involved in the negotiations with Iran.
Indeed, it was Laurent Fabius, French foreign minister, who first announced the failure of the talks ahead of a joint press conference by Lady Ashton and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iranian foreign minister.
“The meetings in Geneva have made it possible to move forward,” Mr Fabius said. “But we have not yet managed to conclude, because there are still some questions remaining to be dealt with.”
Earlier in the day, Mr Fabius said that France did not want to be part of a “fool’s game”.
The near two-week gap before the next talks could prove uncomfortable for the US and Iranian negotiators, who both face considerable opposition at home to their efforts at diplomacy.
The Obama administration’s critics in Congress, who are already pushing for tougher sanctions on Iran, could well be emboldened by French criticism of the deal US diplomats appeared ready to support.
At the same time, Mr Zarif’s apparent last-minute failure to secure some relief from tough international sanctions could encourage those in Iran who say the regime cannot trust the west. At the press conference, Mr Zarif said the diplomats had had a “very productive three days” and that the talks were “something we can build on”.
The diplomats were discussing an interim deal to buy time for more detailed negotiations about a final agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme, which many western governments believe is fast approaching a point where it could make the final steps towards building a nuclear bomb in a short period of time.
The broad outline of the proposed deal involved Iran halting key parts of its nuclear programme in return from some modest relief from the tough regime of international sanctions that it faces.
One of the two main sticking points at negotiations in Geneva was the Arak heavy water reactor south east of Tehran. Western diplomats have long feared that the reactor could produce enough plutonium to give Iran a nuclear bomb at a later date unless its operations are halted.
A second sticking point is Iran’s stockpile of more highly enriched uranium, which is close to weapons grade. Iran has said that it will stop production of more highly enriched uranium at the 20 per cent concentration. But it is unclear whether it is prepared to convert its stockpile of 20 per cent uranium into a form that could not be used to make a nuclear weapon.
Before the break-up of the talks, some diplomats suggested that France might be playing “bad cop” to the US “good cop” in a bid to extract final concessions from Iran.
France has long been regarded as the most hawkish of the four western powers that negotiate with Iran over its nuclear programme. That hawkishness has been a feature of all recent French presidencies and reflects the country’s deep-seated political commitment to the principle of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Romain Nadal, French foreign ministry spokesman, pointed to “rather large cohesion”’ among the negotiators, and said France wanted “the international community to see a serious change in the climate” of talks with Iran.
“There have been years of talks that have led to nothing,’’ Mr Nadal said, alluding to the need for tough terms on Iran.
Another bone of contention may have been the limited willingness of western powers to remove sanctions in return for Iran’s commitment to halt key aspects of its program.
“Countries should know that any agreement should be based on mutual respect and take into consideration the rights of Iranian nation, otherwise it would not be sustainable,” Mr Zarif said."
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