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Politico:
"The Senate will give President Barack Obama a few more weeks of
breathing room as he seeks to lock down a political agreement with Iran on
its nuclear program. After negotiating all week, Senate Foreign Relations
Committee Chairman Bob Corker and Robert Menendez, the committee's top
Democrat, said they will wait until mid-April before voting on legislation
that would allow Congress to weigh in on a nuclear deal with Iran. Though
Corker (R-Tenn.) had been hoping to reach an agreement with Menendez
(D-N.J.) to vote on the bill next week in his committee, Obama and the
White House this week put major pressure on Democrats to hold off on
supporting the legislation as the administration seeks to strike a deal to
wind down Iran's nuclear ambitions... The bill was never going to get to
the floor before the Easter recess anyway, so the bill's supporters decided
the best way to keep their voting bloc intact was to delay a committee vote
until after the two-week break, which has the practical effect of giving
Obama three weeks beyond Senate Democrats' initial deadline of March 24.
Floor consideration could easily drag into late April given how slowly the
Senate moves. 'We have been working together very closely to ensure we have
the strongest vote possible on the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act and to
achieve that result, we have agreed to a markup of the bill in the Foreign
Relations Committee as soon as we return on Tuesday, April 14,' Corker and
Menendez said in a joint statement." http://t.uani.com/1bjMj9b
NYT:
"A dispute over what limits should be placed on the development of new
types of centrifuges has emerged as a major obstacle as negotiators try to
work out an initial accord on Iran's nuclear program, Western officials
said on Thursday... Though Mr. Kerry declined to describe the major
barriers, the issues that have not been settled include the pace at which
sanctions on Iran would be removed or suspended, how many years an
agreement would be in effect and what monitoring would be put into place
when it expired. France, for example, wants the agreement to last for 15
years and then be followed by 10 years of stringent monitoring measures, a
Western official said. The question of what limits should be set on the
research and development of new types of centrifuges is also a major
sticking point. Iran, which insists its nuclear program is for civilian
uses only, has complained that a prohibition on the development of advanced
centrifuges would force it to make do with antiquated technology. Yet the
United States and some of its negotiating partners have been worried that
allowing the Iranians to perfect more sophisticated centrifuges would make
it far easier for Iran to make a dash for a nuclear bomb if it decided to
break out of an agreement or tried to do so after the accord expired."
http://t.uani.com/1bjM3ac
WSJ:
"When international sanctions on Iran would be lifted has emerged as
one of the largest remaining stumbling blocks to an agreement to constrain
Tehran's nuclear program by a March 31 deadline, according to U.S.,
European and Iranian officials. Tehran's negotiators in Switzerland,
according to these diplomats, have hardened their position that United
Nations sanctions on their country be repealed at the front end of any deal
reached this month with the U.S. and other global powers. The U.S. and its
European allies are demanding the U.N.'s sanctions be suspended or
terminated in a phased time-frame over years. They believe sanctions relief
should only come after Iran addresses concerns about its past nuclear work
and is given a clean bill of health by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the
International Atomic Energy Agency... The two sides have narrowed some of
their differences on the sanctions issues, however. There is wide agreement
that many of the unilateral sanctions the U.S. and European Union imposed
on Iran could start to be suspended within months, if not weeks, of a deal
being stuck. This would boost Iran's economy as the EU could resume
purchasing oil from Iran and restrictions on Iranian banks could be lifted.
Iran could also begin repatriating some of the over $100 billion in oil
revenue frozen in overseas accounts." http://t.uani.com/1AP5k9p
Nuclear Program & Negotiations
AP: "The
United States and Iran are drafting elements of a nuclear deal that commits
Tehran to a 40 percent cut in the number of machines it could use to make
an atomic bomb, officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. In return,
the Iranians would get quick relief from some crippling economic sanctions
and a partial lift of a U.N. embargo on conventional arms... Officials said
the tentative deal imposes at least a decade of new limits on the number of
centrifuges Iran can operate to enrich uranium, a process that can lead to
nuclear weapons-grade material. The sides are zeroing in on a cap of 6,000
centrifuges, officials said, down from the 6,500 they spoke of in recent
weeks. That's also fewer than the 10,000 such machines Tehran now runs, yet
substantially more than the 500 to 1,500 that Washington originally wanted
as a ceiling. Only a year ago, U.S. officials floated 4,000 as a possible
compromise... It's unclear how complete the draft is. Iran's deeply buried
underground enrichment plant remains a problem, officials said, with
Washington demanding the facility be repurposed and Tehran insisting it be
able to run hundreds of centrifuges there. Iran says it wants to use the
machines for scientific research; the Americans fear they could be quickly
retooled for enrichment." http://t.uani.com/1APeDWE
NYT:
"Two weeks after Senate Republicans issued a letter to the Iranian
leadership warning that any nuclear agreement Iran signs with the
administration may be temporary, President Obama has issued a missive of
his own: A video directed at Iran's young people, urging them to pressure
their leaders to accept the deal on the table. The ostensible reason for
the video was a greeting for Nowruz, the Persian New Year celebration that
Mr. Obama has used before to deliver messages to the Iranian populace. But
after mentioning a celebration held at the White House, he wasted no time
making his case that an agreement that freezes Iran's nuclear program could
open the way to a far larger relationship. He describes such a relationship
in terms meant to appeal to a young Iranian population that the White House
believes cares little about Iran's nuclear capability and desperately wants
access to the West, its culture and its universities. 'Iran's leaders have
a choice between two paths,' Mr. Obama says in the video. 'If they cannot
agree to a reasonable deal, they will keep Iran on the path it's on today -
a path that has isolated Iran, and the Iranian people, from so much of the
world, caused so much hardship for Iranian families, and deprived so many
young Iranians of the jobs and opportunities they deserve.'" http://t.uani.com/1EAnteV
Bloomberg:
"U.S. lawmakers should wait at least a decade before voting on lifting
sanctions as part of any nuclear deal with Iran, a top Obama administration
official said. 'Congress will have to exercise its authority to lift
sanctions at the end of an agreement if Iran complies,' Deputy Secretary of
State Antony Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Thursday,
as negotiators in Switzerland sought a deal that would last at least 10
years. 'And, indeed, keeping that until the end, until we see that Iran is
complying, is the best way to sustain' leverage on Iran... The
administration has taken the position that the agreement isn't a treaty
requiring the advice and consent of the Senate, although ending sanctions
permanently would require legislation. The administration plans to use
presidential waivers to suspend sanctions while monitoring Iran's
compliance with an accord. That arrangement would permit the quick
'snap-back' of sanctions in the event of Iranian violations, Blinken
said." http://t.uani.com/1OdC45c
The Hill:
"A bipartisan letter on Iran signed by 360 members of Congress will be
sent to President Obama on Thursday, one of its House signers said. The
letter, like one 47 Senate Republicans sent to Tehran's leaders, reminds
the administration that permanent sanctions relief on Iran as part of a
deal to rollback its nuclear program would require new legislation from
Congress. It comes as international negotiators approach a March 24
deadline to reach a framework agreement. 'Should an agreement with Iran be
reached, permanent sanctions relief from congressionally-mandated sanctions
would require new legislation,' the letter says. 'In reviewing such an
agreement, Congress must be convinced that its terms foreclose any pathway
to a bomb, and only then will Congress be able to consider permanent
sanctions relief,' it adds. The letter stops short of supporting
legislation pursued by the Senate that would allow Congress 60 days to
weigh in on any final deal before its implementation. However, it adds, 'We
are prepared to evaluate any agreement to determine its long-term impact on
the United States and our allies.'" http://t.uani.com/18Ojpwn
National Journal:
" Throughout the contentious debate between the White House and
Congress over the Iran nuclear negotiations, one important piece of the
equation has been largely overlooked: American public opinion. If voters
were confident that President Obama was striking a good deal with Iran that
would prevent Tehran from getting nuclear weapons, he'd have little trouble
getting support from the legislative branch. But the reason the president
is facing such bipartisan backlash is that an overwhelming number of voters
are deeply worried about the direction of the negotiations. Think about how
rare, in these polarized times, mobilizing a veto-proof majority of
congressional Republicans and Democrats is for any significant legislation.
Yet despite all the distractions, Congress is close to achieving that goal:
requiring the administration to go to Congress for approval of any deal.
The administration is so focused on process and protocol in attacking the
opposition because it's a useful distraction from how unpopular the
administration's eagerness to strike any deal with Iran has become." http://t.uani.com/1MQlWFg
Pew Research Center:
"It is difficult to predict how the public might react to an agreement
on Iran's nuclear program. But polls conducted over the past two years
portray a public deeply concerned over the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran
and distrustful of Iran's leaders. And when it comes to Iran's nuclear
program, as with so many other issues, there are deep divisions in the way
that Republicans and Democrats view the situation." http://t.uani.com/1C51wVo
Reuters:
"The British, French and German foreign ministers are due to meet
Iranian nuclear negotiators in Lausanne on Saturday, European diplomatic
sources told Reuters, adding that a final decision would depend on talks
among officials on Friday. It was not immediately clear if the foreign
ministers would be joined by the Russian, U.S. and Chinese counterparts who
are part of a process aimed at ending a confrontation over Tehran's nuclear
program. The sources spoke after the French, German and British leaders met
the EU foreign policy chief in Brussels. 'The meeting today on Iran was
useful to consolidate a European line,' one diplomatic source told Reuters
after European Commission Vice President Federica Mogherini met British
Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande and German
Chancellor Angela Merkel for about 40 minutes before a second day of wider
talks at an EU summit." http://t.uani.com/1C4Z6pX
Iraq Crisis
Politico:
"Former CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus says the Islamic State of
Iraq and the Levant is not the biggest threat facing the United States in
Iraq. 'In fact, I would argue that the foremost threat to Iraq's long-term
stability and the broader regional equilibrium is not the Islamic State;
rather, it is Shiite militias, many backed by - and some guided by - Iran,'
Petraeus said in written comments to The Washington Post's Beirut bureau
chief, Liz Sly. The Iranian regime 'is ultimately part of the problem, not
the solution' to the region's issues, Petraeus said... He cautioned that
merely pushing ISIL out of Iraq could make the Iranian-backed militias the
most powerful force in the country, which he said would be harmful to
regional U.S. interests. Petraeus said he has 'several thoughts' on Iranian
Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani being in Iraq, but most of them
'probably aren't suitable for publication in a family newspaper like
yours.'" http://t.uani.com/1CEdkA5
Human Rights
IranWire:
"Police launched a large-scale operation to combat 'obscene and
criminal websites,' arresting 241 people in in Sistan and Baluchistan
province in mid-March. The head of Sistan and Baluchistan's cyber police,
Mohammad Hosseinipour, told journalists that 200 men and 41 women had been
arrested on charges of setting up and operating up to 900 illegal websites.
Hosseinipour told the press conference that all websites operating from the
province were being monitored on a '24-hour basis.'" http://t.uani.com/1CEe4Fz
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