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Page added on April 2, 2015
Iran Negotiators Agree on Outline Nuclear Accord
Iran and world powers said they reached an outline accord that keeps them on track to end a decade-long nuclear dispute, allowing three more months to resolve differences that couldn’t be bridged in the past week’s diplomatic marathon.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Twitter that solutions to the nuclear issue had been found and the process of drafting an accord can begin. Germany’s Foreign Ministry also said on Twitter that a framework solution has been reached.
Further details weren’t immediately clear. The Islamic Republic’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the European Union’s foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini were due to hold a press conference late Thursday in Lausanne, Switzerland, venue for more than a week of talks. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is also set to speak.
The sides now have three months until the end of June to bridge gaps and draft a detailed technical agreement that would ease the international sanctions imposed on Iran, including its oil exports, and reduce the potential for international tensions over its nuclear ambitions to escalate into military conflict.
Oil Declines
Oil extended declines on Thursday as the talks neared their climax. Brent crude fell 4 percent to $54.84 a barrel at 1:20 p.m. in New York, near a two-week low. A settlement with Iran may add additional supply to world markets, where a glut has already seen oil prices drop by about half since June last year.
Iran has the world’s fourth-biggest reserves, and curbs on crude sales have hit its economy. It’s not clear how long it will take for sanctions to be removed, one of the main differences that negotiators were seeking to overcome. Others concerned the amount of nuclear capacity Iran would be allowed to keep, and the nature of inspections.
As the latest round of talks entered its final hours, diplomats involved said a public statement was likely to be accompanied by a confidential annex that would contain specific commitments by the two sides.
‘Back to Work’
Kerry said on Twitter that diplomats will get “back to work soon on a final deal.”
Reaching an outline agreement that contains specific pledges may help President Barack Obama to persuade Congressional skeptics that progress had been made. Many U.S. legislators say they share Israel’s view that the emerging agreement won’t prevent Iran from making a nuclear weapon, while Iranian critics of the talks say too many concessions to the U.S. are being made.
Iranian news agencies reported what they said were details from the agreement that haven’t been announced. Fars news agency said it will allow 1,000 centrifuges to operate at the controversial Fordo complex, which will be converted into a center for advanced physics research.
Tasnim said that all oil and banking sanctions on Iran will be lifted once the deal is implemented. It said United Nations Security Council-endorsed curbs on some items of sensitive technology will remain in place until the completion of the accord, which foresees a multi-year period of monitoring.
11 Comments on "Iran Negotiators Agree on Outline Nuclear Accord"
Plantagenet on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 1:05 pm
It was that final clause that requires Kerry and Obama to get down on their hands and knees and beg for a treaty that caused the delay—-but finally Kerry and Obama agreed to even this Iranian demand.
rockman on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 1:14 pm
Just heard a very interesting report from an analyst who appeared to be very familiar with the Iranian nuke program. In essence it was totally irrelevant in his opinion what is agreements are or are not reached regarding nuclear developments in Iran since the bulk of that country’s efforts are actually being conducted in N Korea. Turns out he estimates there are perhaps as many as 4 nuclear development facilities being run by Iran in that country with the aid of their govt. He reported that there have been official cooperation agreements between the two countries that have been publicly reported. Guess I missed that on my local news. He also explained why NK had that nuclear test a while back: it was demonstration project for the scientists from their ally, Iran.
His basic point was that we can negotiate whatever sort of inspection agreements with Iran we want: it won’t get us access to what they’re developing in NK. Which also make me wonder how accurate are the predictions that Iran won’t have a bomb for X years down the road.
ghung on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 1:15 pm
I wonder if Bibi is warming up his jets yet.
Perk Earl on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 2:46 pm
Rock, that would still require shipment of said nukes from NK to Iran. Depending on what high seas inspections may occur, is that feasible?
Perk Earl on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 2:50 pm
Yesterday oil prices were starting to jack up on speculation Iran deal would fall through, but now it has been agreed upon oil price is dropping. In particular Brent is down -2.26 to less than $55. a barrel.
WTI keeps flirting with the $50. dollar level but cannot sustain price above. Yesterday it breached 50 only to drop below today.
http://www.bloomberg.com/energy/
Crude Oil (WTI) USD/bbl. 49.16 -0.93 -1.86% May 15 14:58:19
Crude Oil (Brent) USD/bbl. 54.84 -2.26 -3.96% May 15 14:58:19
BobInget on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 2:56 pm
ghung may sound sarcastic but the awful
truth is worse.
This is how long Israel has threatened Iran..
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4633272,00.html
http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/long-history-israeli-gaming-iranian-threat-830388190
Never mind attacking Iran w/o cause is illegal.
Since President Bush invaded Iraq for no cause, preemptive war is now a ‘thing’.
It’s far from certain Israel could set back
Iran’s Nuclear program more then a few years unless Israel uses ‘the final solution’ learned
(the hard way) from Nazi Germany.
I don’t buy the NK conspiracy only because
nuclear weapons have lost all strategic usefulness.
Plantagenet on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 3:06 pm
@perk earl
Its estimated that Iran has about 40 oil tankers merrily taking their oil overseas for sale in spite of UN sanctions. If the US and/or the UN can’t find the 40 iranian oil tankers, what makes you so certain they could find an Iranian oil tanker with a nuke on board?
ghughes on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 3:15 pm
Treaties are usually just nice talk, public promises between guys looking for a little deal on the quiet side. If as Ted Cruz says “the world is on fire” it might pay to have some lines of communication before the Nukes fly.
GregT on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 3:30 pm
Weapons of mass destruction, weapons of mass destruction, WMD, WMD, WMD.
What a load of crap. Israel and her minions in DC have had a plan for the ME since the 80s.
“The following document pertaining to the formation of “Greater Israel” constitutes the cornerstone of powerful Zionist factions within the current Netanyahu government (which has recently been re-elected), the Likud party, as well as within the Israeli military and intelligence establishment. The election was fought by Netanyahu on a political platform which denies Palestinian statehood. ”
“According to the founding father of Zionism Theodore Herzl, “the area of the Jewish State stretches: “From the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates.” According to Rabbi Fischmann, “The Promised Land extends from the River of Egypt up to the Euphrates, it includes parts of Syria and Lebanon.””
“When viewed in the current context, the war on Iraq, the 2006 war on Lebanon, the 2011 war on Libya, the ongoing war on Syria, not to mention the process of regime change in Egypt, must be understood in relation to the Zionist Plan for the Middle East. The latter consists in weakening and eventually fracturing neighboring Arab states as part of an Israeli expansionist project.”
“The Atlantic, in 2008, and the U.S. military’s Armed Forces Journal, in 2006, both published widely circulated maps that closely followed the outline of the Yinon Plan. Aside from a divided Iraq, which the Biden Plan also calls for, the Yinon Plan calls for a divided Lebanon, Egypt, and Syria. The partitioning of Iran, Turkey, Somalia, and Pakistan also all fall into line with these views. The Yinon Plan also calls for dissolution in North Africa and forecasts it as starting from Egypt and then spilling over into Sudan, Libya, and the rest of the region.”
““The plan operates on two essential premises. To survive, Israel must 1) become an imperial regional power, and 2) must effect the division of the whole area into small states by the dissolution of all existing Arab states. Small here will depend on the ethnic or sectarian composition of each state. Consequently, the Zionist hope is that sectarian-based states become Israel’s satellites and, ironically, its source of moral legitimation… This is not a new idea, nor does it surface for the first time in Zionist strategic thinking. Indeed, fragmenting all Arab states into smaller units has been a recurrent theme.” ”
“Viewed in this context, the war on Syria and Iraq is part of the process of Israeli territorial expansion. Israeli intelligence working hand in glove with the US, Turkey and NATO is directly supportive of the crusade directed against the so-called Islamic State (ISIS), which ultimately seeks to destroy both Syria and Iraq as nation states.
Michel Chossudovsky, Global Research, March 22, 2015 ”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/greater-israel-the-zionist-plan-for-the-middle-east/5324815
rockman on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 4:46 pm
Earl – Plant makes a point. But supposedly the US has a system to detect mobile nukes. Don’t know what those capabilities are. But I suspect human intelligence is still our best source. And I think I would put my money on Israeli intel and Mossad to get the job done before the CIA.
redpill on Thu, 2nd Apr 2015 7:49 pm
Plant, what would you propose?
These negotiations also involved Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany.
So, just to ask, if someone else were President and they announced they were walking away from the talks and preparing for airstrikes against Iran, would you be for that?