Eye on Iran: Kerry Cites 'Progress' in Iran Talks but Says 'Very Real Gaps' Remain

Join UANI           Top Stories NYT: "After three days of intensive talks with his Iranian counterpart, Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday that 'tangible progress' had been made in negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, and that he would return to Washington to consult with President Obama over whether to extend a Sunday deadline for a final agreement. Mr. Kerry said that 'very real gaps' remained, but his tone - and his acknowledgment that Iran had complied with all of its commitments under a temporary agreement that took effect in January - left little doubt he wanted to extend the talks by weeks or months. 'That's where we're headed, I think,' one of his top advisers said. At his own news conference, Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's foreign minister, embraced the idea of extending talks beyond the deadline. 'As we stand now, we have made enough headway to be able to tell our political bosses that this is a process worth continuing,' he said. 'This is my recommendation. I am sure Secretary Kerry will make the same recommendation.' ... Mr. Kerry declined to comment on the proposal that Mr. Zarif outlined in an interview with The New York Times for what would amount to an extension of the current short-term agreement for a number of years. Gary Samore, a former senior official on the staff of Mr. Obama's National Security Council, and president of an advocacy group called United Against Nuclear Iran, said that Mr. Zarif's proposal was 'not enough for a deal but enough for an extension of the negotiations.' Olli Heinonen, the former deputy director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations nuclear monitor, said in an interview that Mr. Zarif's proposal would not add to the time Iran would need to break out of an accord and produce enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon. 'What Zarif suggests is actually to maintain a status quo,' Mr. Heinonen said. 'Thus I do not see that this proposal opens any avenues for a deal.'" http://t.uani.com/1wuCett AFP: "An extension of Sunday's deadline to strike a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is now 'highly probable,' and by months not weeks, a Western diplomat said Tuesday. 'As it's highly improbable that we will finalise in Vienna before the weekend, it is highly probable that there will be a wish to continue to negotiate in the coming months,' the diplomat said on condition of anonymity on the sidelines of talks in Vienna. Just extending 'by weeks doesn't make much sense,' the envoy said. 'It is soon August ... There will have to be a break.' He added that following two days of intensive talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry -- who has now left Vienna -- and his Iranian counterpart, all focus was now on the terms of the extension. This could even be agreed before the weekend, he said. 'We hope to have left here before (the weekend)... since we are talking about a rollover.'" http://t.uani.com/1jxrOIR The Hill: "The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday said the Obama administration should begin preparing additional sanctions on Iran as the deadline for a deal on the country's nuclear program draws closer. Rep. Ed Royce (R-Calif.) said Secretary of State John Kerry's remarks Tuesday on the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran signal it is time to begin preparing sanctions as an interim agreement is set to expire Sunday. 'In light of Secretary Kerry's comments today in Vienna that very real gaps remain between Iran and the international community, my hope is that the administration will finally engage in robust discussions with Congress about preparing additional sanctions against Iran,' he said in a statement... Royce signaled an extension would not yield results, saying 'Iran's Supreme Leader has made clear that Iran will not agree to dismantle its nuclear weapons program. In fact, he seeks to expand it.'" http://t.uani.com/1nanlgi     Nuclear Program & Negotiations The Hill: "Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (N.J.) is wary about giving Secretary of State John Kerry more time to reach a nuclear deal with Iran. Menendez, a sharp critic of Iran, could present a problem for the Obama administration, which has strongly hinted it will seek more time to negotiate. 'If they're not close, I'm not for extending for extension's sake,' he said. 'From all reports, they're certainly not close to the standards that I think a majority of the Congress wants. 'We want an agreement but it has to be a good agreement, not an agreement for agreement's sake,' he said." http://t.uani.com/1snWiQA Al-Monitor: "Congressional Republicans aren't waiting for the smoke signals out of Vienna to declare the Iran nuclear talks a failure... 'July 20 was the date that they set,' Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., told Al-Monitor. 'So unless there's some overwhelming reason not to, I think the sanctions that have been relaxed ought to be reimposed.' McCain that he'd be 'very supportive' of new sanctions as well. 'The sanctions were working, and I believe we should immediately reinstate the full sanctions regime that existed before the interim agreement and consider additional sanctions as well,' Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., ranking member on the Armed Services panel, said in a statement. Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., said he expected support to build for the sanctions bill he introduced in December with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, D-N.J., as well as more recent human-rights legislation he wrote with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. That first bill has been backed by 60 of 100 senators but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has stopped it from coming up on the floor... Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Al-Monitor that he planned to introduce legislation soon requiring a deal to come to Congress for approval. The proposal mirrors similar legislation introduced in the House by Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz." http://t.uani.com/1rqO1sv Sanctions Relief Tehran Times: "Iran has prepared a comprehensive plan to increase its trade with the United Arab Emirates significantly, the deputy director of the Trade Promotion Organization of Iran stated. 'The comprehensive plan will raise the trade between the two countries significantly,' the Mehr news agency quoted TOPI official Aboutaleb Badri as saying on Monday... The UAE was the 2nd biggest trading partner of Iran in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 20, 2014, according to the Iran Customs Administration. Iran exported $3.62 billion worth of non-oil goods to the UAE and imported $11.85 billion worth of non-oil goods from the Persian Gulf state. On June 1, a trade delegation consisting of the ministers of agriculture and infrastructure, the heads of the chambers of commerce of the seven Emirates in the UAE and their accompanying business representatives visited Iran." http://t.uani.com/1p88VKk Foreign Affairs Bloomberg: "The grainy footage taken by an Israeli warplane shows an alleged Hamas-run drone facility in the Gaza Strip. Within seconds, the building explodes in a ball of smoke. Israel's justification for the attack came hours earlier, when a Patriot missile intercepted a drone as it approached the coast and blew it to pieces... It was the first time a Hamas drone breached Israeli airspace, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said... In Gaza, leaflets boasted of dozens of drones being built in the strip, some for spying, others for firing missiles or 'suicide missions.' Hamas calls its drones Ababil, a reference to a flock of birds mentioned in the Koran that protected the holy city of Mecca from Abyssinian invaders by dropping clay bricks on their army of elephants. Ababil is also the name Iran uses for some of its drones, and Israel suspects Iranian involvement in Hamas's program. 'All the technology they have is Iranian-based so if they developed it locally or imported pieces, it is all from Iranian knowledge and technology,' Lerner said." http://t.uani.com/U9Njn5 Eye on Iran is a periodic news summary from United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) a program of the American Coalition Against Nuclear Iran, Inc., a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Eye on Iran is not intended as a comprehensive media clips summary but rather a selection of media elements with discreet analysis in a PDA friendly format. For more information please email Press@UnitedAgainstNuclearIran.com United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) is a non-partisan, broad-based coalition that is united in a commitment to prevent Iran from fulfilling its ambition to become a regional super-power possessing nuclear weapons.  UANI is an issue-based coalition in which each coalition member will have its own interests as well as the collective goal of advancing an Iran free of nuclear weapons.