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'I don't read Farsi': State Department spokeswoman brushes off claims that Iran is misrepresenting terms of nuclear deal Within hours of a formal announcement that the United States, Iran and a group of five other world powers had brokered a deal keep Iran obtaining an atomic bomb in exchange for the relief of certain sanctions, cracks began to appear in the tediously negotiated preliminary agreement. The United States insisted in public statements and a fact sheet on the deal that sanctions on the country would be 'suspended' or 'phased' out over time after a final deal is inked while leaving...

Several top Democrats are voicing grave reservations over the Obama administration's emerging deal governing the future of Iran's nuclear program. Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) said they welcome a discussion on the framework agreement unveiled Thursday, but harbor deep doubts that the Iranians can be trusted to make good on their commitments. "I greet any deal with Iran with great skepticism given its deceptive history and ongoing destabilizing and dangerous activities," Deutch, the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs subpanel on the Middle East, said in a statement. "I remain deeply concerned as to how a...

A State Department official dismissed a plea Friday from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Iran nuclear agreement include clear recognition of his nation's "right to exist," declaring negotiations are "only about the nuclear issue." State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, in a terse response to a question about Netanyahu's concerns, told reporters, "This is an agreement that is only about the nuclear issue" -- a comment that indicates the Obama administration is not looking to enshrine Israel's security into a final agreement. Harf, for her part, suggested the talks are complicated enough already. "This is an agreement that doesn't...

Muslim nations are rubbing their hands together waiting for the next gift they will get from Obama and his global minions Neville Chamberlain’s name will live in infamy. Chamberlain was Prime Minister of Great Britain when the Nazis were on the rise in Germany prior to the Second World War. Neville was a pacifist, a guy that, if alive today, would have peace signs plastered throughout his office. His foreign policy was much like Barack Obama’s, filled with “negotiate first” and “appeasement” insertions to the point that it was disastrous. Chamberlain’s the guy that believed Adolf Hitler was a character...

"I just came from a meeting of the Israeli cabinet. We discussed the proposed framework for a deal with Iran. The cabinet is united in strongly opposing the proposed deal. This deal would pose a grave danger to the region and to the world and would threaten the very survival of the State of Israel. The deal would not shut down a single nuclear facility in Iran, would not destroy a single centrifuge in Iran and will not stop R&D on Iran's advanced centrifuges. On the contrary. The deal would legitimize Iran's illegal nuclear program. It would leave Iran with...

THE “KEY parameters” for an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program released Thursday fall well short of the goals originally set by the Obama administration. None of Iran’s nuclear facilities — including the Fordow center buried under a mountain — will be closed. Not one of the country’s 19,000 centrifuges will be dismantled. Tehran’s existing stockpile of enriched uranium will be “reduced” but not necessarily shipped out of the country. In effect, Iran’s nuclear infrastructure will remain intact, though some of it will be mothballed for 10 years. When the accord lapses, the Islamic republic will instantly become a threshold nuclear...

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who represented France in the nuclear talks between Iran and world powers, revealed on Friday that his nation had rejected an original version of the deal reached the day before for not being "solid enough." In an interview with Europe 1 radio cited by Fox News, Fabius said he had tried to hold out for stronger terms, but when the Iranian delegation threatened to leave the talks he was forced to capitulate. France wants a strong deal "to prevent other countries in the Gulf such as Saudi Arabia from embarking on nuclear proliferation," Fabius said....

DUBAI/BEIRUT - The leader of Friday prayers in Tehran hailed a framework nuclear deal reached by Iran and world powers, a sign that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other hardliners will back the accord. Ayatollah Mohammad Emami-Kashani, a 78-year old hardline cleric, gave the weekly sermon at Tehran University -- a duty that rotates around senior members of Iran's conservative clerical establishment. "The negotiating team is firm, wise and calm," Emami-Kashani said, according to the Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA). "The Supreme Leader supports these representatives," he added. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani initiated the talks with the United States,...

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has received a rapturous reception from crowds in Tehran, after negotiating a preliminary nuclear deal that paves for the way for an end to years of crippling sanctions. In return Iran must curb, though not abandon, its nuclear activities. Zarif, just back from marathon talks in Switzerland, stressed that point at a news conference on arrival. “The nuclear programme will continue,” he said. Zarif stressed that under a final deal, due to be struck between Iran and six world powers by June 30, if any decision is made to reimpose sanctions, Tehran will be...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to deliver a statement later in the afternoon on Friday. Israel's security cabinet is united in its opposition to the framework deal reached between world powers and Iran, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said in a statement issued following a special meeting said on Friday. Netanyahu, who earlier spoke by phone with US President Barack Obama, saying that he was "vehemently opposed" to the agreement, was shortly expected to deliver a statement. Obama called Netanyahu within hours of the deal being struck, saying it represented significant progress toward a lasting solution that cuts off...

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barak Obama had a difficult phone conversation on Thursday night, hours after the announcement that a framework nuclear agreement was reached between the six world powers and Iran. According to the Prime Minister's Office, Netanyahu reiterated during the conversation that "a deal based on this framework will threaten Israel's existence." In the conversation, Netanyahu expressed staunch opposition on Israel's part to the framework deal, describing it as posing a "grave danger to Israel, the region and the world." The prime minister told Obama that only this week an Iranian general said that "Israel's destruction...

Says White House misleading Congress, American people with fact sheet LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Just hours after the announcement of what the United States characterized as a historic agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, the country’s leading negotiator lashed out at the Obama administration for lying about the details of a tentative framework. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif accused the Obama administration of misleading the American people and Congress in a fact sheet it released following the culmination of negotiations with the Islamic Republic. Zarif bragged in an earlier press conference with reporters that the United States had tentatively agreed...

HT Drudge LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Just hours after the announcement of what the United States characterized as a historic agreement with Iran over its nuclear program, the country’s leading negotiator lashed out at the Obama administration for lying about the details of a tentative framework.

Republican U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk on Thursday slammed President Barack Obama's announcement of a framework nuclear agreement with Iran, contending it will lead to a "total meltdown" in U.S. relations with Middle Eastern allies. Kirk, a former Navy Reserve intelligence officer, is among the strongest supporters of using economic sanctions against Iran in an effort to force the country to divest any efforts to gain access to nuclear weapons. Under the conditions of the framework reached between the U.S., five other world powers and Iran, United Nations sanctions that have threatened Iran's economy would be lifted. "It looks like they...

WASHINGTON, DC - House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) issued the following statement in response to the president’s remarks on the Iran nuclear talks: “The president says negotiators have cleared the basic threshold needed to continue talks, but the parameters for a final deal represent an alarming departure from the White House’s initial goals. My longtime concerns about the parameters of this potential agreement remain, but my immediate concern is the administration signaling it will provide near-term sanctions relief. Congress must be allowed to fully review the details of any agreement before any sanctions are lifted. “After visiting with our partners...

Israeli officials once again begin talking about "military option." The smiles that accompanied the announcement Thursday of parameters for an Iranian nuclear agreement in Lausanne between the world powers and Iran are detached from reality, International Relations Minister Yuval Steinitz said in Jerusalem's initial reaction to the developments. The reality, Steinitz said, is that Iran refused to make any concession on the nuclear issue and continues to threaten Israel and all other countries in the Middle East. Even before the press conference in Lausanne where the announcement was made, the Prime Minister's Office posted the following message on twitter: “Any...

http://www.ketv.com/politics/live-obama-on-iran-nuclear-talks/21863310

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Iran and six world powers have agreed on the outlines of an understanding to limit Iran’s nuclear programs, negotiators indicated Thursday, as both sides prepared for announcements.

The State Department has cancelled daily press briefings in Washington, D.C. three days in a row as John Kerry continues to try to strike a nuclear deal with Iran.