Eye on Iran: Iran Will Be Seen To Be Responsible if A Nuclear Deal Is Not Reached

Join UANI           Top Stories Reuters: "Iran will be widely seen to be responsible if a comprehensive deal to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief is not reached, the top U.S. negotiator said on Thursday .U.S. Under-Secretary of State Wendy Sherman also said major powers negotiating with Iran have offered it ideas that are 'equitable, enforceable and consistent with Tehran's expressed desire for a viable civilian nuclear program.' Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States are seeking to reach a deal with Iran by Nov. 24. Sherman said Iran's best chance to escape economic sanctions was to strike an agreement before that deadline". http://t.uani.com/1woybAT WSJ: "The Obama administration is promoting a possible nuclear agreement with Iran to allies, Congress and U.S. policy makers in an effort to win support ahead of a late November deadline. Significant divisions remain between Tehran and global powers in negotiations that seek to constrain Iran's nuclear program in exchange for an easing of Western sanctions, senior officials stressed in interviews this week. But these officials also said important progress has been made in recent talks in Vienna and New York. The White House has subsequently decided to begin more aggressively outlining to various partners the contours of a prospective deal with Tehran, and its potential merits, they said. 'This is a period of heightened activity. And it's a chance to level-set people on where we are,' said a senior U.S. official working on Iran. 'There's a stepped-up effort to show people what this deal might look like'. Among the administration's point people in this effort is Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman, the U.S. chief nuclear negotiator with Iran. On Thursday, Ms. Sherman gave her most expansive address on the status of the negotiations since taking her post and stressed the need for Iran to seize on the diplomacy to end its international isolation. http://t.uani.com/1tQGI1U AP: "The chief U.S. nuclear negotiator suggested Thursday that some U.S. allies and members of Congress hope diplomacy with Iran fails, offering a glimpse of the difficult task awaiting the Obama administration if it manages to secure a nuclear agreement with Tehran by a late November deadline. Wendy Sherman, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, said negotiators are focused on clinching an accord that gives the world confidence that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful. In exchange, Iran would get significant relief from the international sanctions that have crippled its economy". http://t.uani.com/ZLBs1f     Nuclear Program & Negotiations Bloomberg: "The alternatives to an international accord preventing Iran from producing nuclear weapons are 'quite terrible,' the chief U.S. negotiator in talks with Iran said. Even so, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman said yesterday, the U.S. won't accept 'a bad deal or even a half-bad deal' to avoid failure. Sherman said in Washington that she can't predict the outcome of the negotiations as they head toward a Nov. 24 deadline with six nations and Iran still jockeying over constraints on the Islamic Republic's nuclear activities and the terms for lifting economic sanctions. U.S. lawmakers on key committees are preparing legislation to impose tougher economic sanctions on Iran if there's no deal by that date, and Iran's interim commitment to curtail uranium-enrichment would expire with the end of the negotiations. Barring an agreement to extend the talks for a second time, the stage would be set for events that could lead to military attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities by the U.S. or Israel". http://t.uani.com/1DHONqR Human Rights RFE: "Soheila Jowrkesh had just pulled over to take a call from her mother when she became a victim. As she sat in her car with the window open, two men on a motorcycle threw liquid acid at her. The attack left her completely blind in her right eye, with injuries to her left eye and extensive burns to her forehead, hands, and legs, her father, Nasser Jowrkesh, told the BBC's Persian service. The 27-year-old student is just one of a number of young women who have been targeted in a spate of acid attacks in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, apparently because they were not veiled properly. Several victims and their relatives interviewed by the semiofficial ISNA news agency described attacks similar to the one Jowrkesh suffered". http://t.uani.com/1tQIVu5 Trend: "Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has taken the case of acid attacks against women in the country under control. Rouhani has ordered to find the perpetrators of acid attacks against women as soon as possible, IRNA news agency reported Oct. 24. In recent weeks, according to Iranian media outlets, at least 4 women became victims of acid attacks by unknown motorcyclists. The latest incident took place on the night of Oct. 15 when a young woman was assaulted by unknown people, who threw acid at her while she was in the car. The attacks triggered protests in Isfahan, which demanded finding and punishing the criminals. Claims in social networks said the reason for acid attacks were the women, who violated the Islamic dress code in the city. Meanwhile, Mohammad Taghi Rahbar, a senior cleric in Isfahan who leads Friday prayer condemned the attacks saying such an act is illegal and is not permitted in Islam." http://t.uani.com/10rsbN7 Foreign Affairs Trend: "Iran is ready to cooperate with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and other countries of the region in fighting against terrorism, Fars news agency quoted Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian as saying on Oct.24.The deputy minister said the leading countries of the region should realize the current situation in the region and play a constructive and effective role in resolving the problems in this difficult period. Abdollahian added that Iran supports Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen in their fight against the terrorist actions targeting Shiites, Sunnis and Christians". http://t.uani.com/1DHQzs3 Trend: "Iran is ready to intensify the trade-economic relations with Georgia, Iranian ambassador to Georgia Abbas Talebifari said at a meeting with Georgian Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure Davit Shavliashvili Oct. 24. The diplomat said that Iran and Georgia have close cultural ties. Tehran welcomes the intensification of the trade-economic relations between the two countries. 'An Iranian delegation, consisting of the representatives of the Chamber of Commerce of Iran and businessmen of the country will visit Georgia next week,' Talebifari said. 'The members of the delegation plan to meet with Shavliashvili October 30.'The sides also said that this visit contributes to strengthening the cooperation between Iran and Georgia in a number of areas". http://t.uani.com/ZPW48R Opinion & Analysis Dalia Dassa Kaye in U.S. News and World Report: "Although the prevailing wisdom among Iran-watchers is that a nuclear deal is unlikely to be reached by the Nov. 24 deadline, some Israelis nonetheless worry that America's fight against the Islamic State group is distracting from the Iranian nuclear challenge. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made it clear in his U.N. General Assembly speech that he views the Iranian nuclear issue as an even greater threat than the jihadist group. Some Israeli analysts see the group's threat as working in Iran's favor, possibly leading to future interim or final agreements that offer better terms to Iran. But the idea that the United States would make additional concessions to Iran in the nuclear negotiations because of the anti-Islamic State group effort is not based on realities on the ground. Iran does not need to be coaxed into fighting the group - it has plenty of its own incentives to bolster Iraqi security forces and Shiite militias to protect Baghdad and keep the Shiite-led Iraqi state together. In fact, that is exactly what the Iranians have been doing since the Islamic State group began making advances in Iraq's northern region. No promises of nuclear concessions were needed to prompt Iranian action against the jihadist group and protect its perceived national security interests". http://t.uani.com/1vYBCzo      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.