Israel, Saudi Arabia Feel Betrayed by US-Iran Lausanne Deal

The Saudi-led bombing is opposed by Iran, which is accused of backing the Yemeni rebels. The US, meanwhile, is helping the Saudi campaign - while also seeking to strike a compromise with Tehran over its nuclear program. Gayane Chichakyan reports on a complex tangle of interests in the region.

Netanyahu Continues Attack on Iran Nuclear Agreement: It's 'a Very Bad Deal'

THE GUARDIAN: Israel PM: deal did not do enough to dismantle nuclear infrastructure / Energy secretary Moniz: ‘We have a very, very different view of the facts’

Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday stepped up his attack on a nascent deal to curb Iran’s nuclear program, calling the framework agreement announced in Switzerland last week “a very bad deal”.

The framework did not do enough to dismantle Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, Netanyahu said, and world powers were making a mistake by offering Iran a path to sanctions relief without demanding more in return.

“A better deal would roll back Iran’s vast nuclear infrastructure, and require Iran to stop its aggression in the region, its terror worldwide and its calls and actions to annihilate the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said on CNN. “That’s a better deal. It’s achievable.” » | Tom McCarthy in New York | Sunday, April 05, 2015

Iranian President Praises Nuclear Deal

VOICE OF AMERICA: Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has praised the framework agreement reached Thursday on Tehran's nuclear program, calling it a "day that will remain in the historical memory of the Iranian nation."

Addressing his nation on live television Friday, Rou[h]ani said the framework agreement reached with six world powers will protect Iran's nuclear rights and provide relief from international sanctions.

The deal acknowledges Iran's right to enrich uranium on its own territory – for peaceful purposes, Rouhani emphasized. (+ video) » | VOA News | Friday, April 03, 2015

US Reportedly Backed Down on Initial Goals in Iran Talks

FOX NEWS: U.S. negotiators reportedly lowered the bar for their own goals during talks over Iran's nuclear program in response to resistance from the Tehran team. And, on the heels of a framework deal being announced in Switzerland, France's top diplomat on Friday admitted his country had initially held out for firmer terms.

The emerging reports indicate the U.S. team, led by Secretary of State John Kerry, gradually backed down over the course of the talks as Iran's delegation dug in. The Wall Street Journal, citing current and former U.S. representatives at the discussions, claimed the White House had initially hoped to persuade Iran to dismantle much of the country's nuclear infrastructure when talks started in late 2013, only to be told categorically that Iran would not do so. (+ FoxNews video) » | FoxNews.com | Friday, April 03, 2015

Netanyahu to Obama: Iran Deal Threatens Israel's Survival

ARUTZ SHEVA: Netanyahu speaks to President Obama, expresses Israel's "strong opposition" to the framework agreement with Iran.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke to President Barack Obama on Thursday evening and expressed Israel's strong opposition to the framework agreement with Iran which poses a grave danger to Israel, the region and the world, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office said.

"A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel,” Netanyahu told Obama, according to the statement.

“Just two days ago, Iran said that ‘the destruction of Israel is non-negotiable,’ and in these fateful days Iran is accelerating the arming of its terror proxies to attack Israel.”

“This deal would legitimize Iran's nuclear program, bolster Iran's economy, and increase Iran's aggression and terror throughout the Middle East and beyond. Such a deal would not block Iran's path to the bomb. It would pave it,” warned Netanyahu. » | Elad Benari | Friday, April 03, 2015

La Suisse applaudit l'accord sur le nucléaire iranien

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Lausanne – Didier Burkhalter a estimé qu'il s'agissait d'une «bonne nouvelle pour la promotion de la paix».

La Suisse se félicite de l'entente entre les grandes puissances et l'Iran sur le programme nucléaire iranien. «Une bonne nouvelle pour cette région du monde et pour la promotion de la paix», a estimé Didier Burkhalter, chef du Département fédéral des affaires étrangères (DFAE).

Cette déclaration commune constitue un pas important vers plus de sécurité dans le monde, une des priorités de la politique étrangère de la Suisse, selon Didier Burkhalter, cité dans un communiqué du DFAE diffusé jeudi soir. «Elle démontre que la solution à de profondes et complexes divergences sur le plan international ne peut être trouvée que par la voie diplomatique.» » | jeudi 02 avril 2015

Israeli Officials: Iran Deal an 'Historic Mistake'

ARUTZ SHEVA: Israeli officials say new framework deal with Iran "will make the world far more dangerous." Lapid, Herzog and Livni speak out as well.

Left and right in Israel were on Thursday night united in their opposition to the new framework agreement reached between Iran and six world powers on Tehran’s nuclear program.

Israeli government officials said that the framework deal will be remembered as a "historic mistake".

"If an agreement is reached on the basis of this framework, it is an historic mistake which will make the world far more dangerous," said the officials, briefing journalists on condition of anonymity.

"It is a bad framework which will lead to a bad and dangerous agreement. The framework gives international legitimacy to Iran's nuclear program, the only aim of which is to produce a nuclear bomb," they added. » | Elad Benari | Friday, April 03, 2015

Obama’s Folly in Iran Needs a Page from Reagan’s Playbook

FOX NEWS: President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry are negotiating an agreement with Iran that will accelerate a nuclear arms race in a part of the world that has begun a 30-year, fight to the finish, religious war. It is a prescription for disaster.

The administration won’t portray it that way, of course. They will say they have succeeded in slowing down Iran’s program. They will offer the usual Obama straw man argument -- it’s a choice between this deal and war with Iran. And nobody wants another war in the Middle East. » | K. T. McFarland | Wednesday, April 01, 2015

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: Lessons in Munich Agreement for Iran Deal

The Western capitulation to Adolf Hitler in the 1938 Munich Agreement is cited as classic appeasement that destroyed Czechoslovakia, backfired on France and Britain, and led to World War II. All of that is true. But there was much more that caused the Munich debacle than simple Western naivete. The full tragedy of that ill-fated agreement…

Statement by PM Netanyahu on Lausanne Talks

Boehner: Iran Has 'No Intention' of Keeping Its Word on Nuclear Deal

THE GUARDIAN: Speaker slams Obama, says Iran has ‘never kept their word about anything’ / Promises new sanctions will ‘come quickly’ if no agreement reached

Iran has “no intention” of keeping its word on an agreement being negotiated in Switzerland over its nuclear programme, House speaker John Boehner said on Sunday.

The top Republican’s comments came as negotiations in Lausanne approached the 31 March deadline for the drafting of a framework for a deal, under intense criticism from Israel’s prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.

Speaking on CNN, Boehner said he had serious doubts about the talks. “We’ve got a regime that’s never quite kept their word about anything,” he said. “I just don’t understand why we would sign an agreement with a group of people who have no intention of keeping their word.”

If there was no agreement, Boehner said he would move “very” quickly to impose new sanctions on Iran.

“The sanctions are going to come and they are going to come quickly,” he said. » | Dominic Rushe in New York | Sunday, March 29, 2015

Iran Nuclear Deal Progress: Sudden Thaw in Decade-long Atomic Standoff

It's a bitter stand-off that's lasted a decade, involving sanctions and dozens of marathon talks. And now the US and the EU are on the verge of reaching a deal with Iran, over its nuclear programme.

Pro-Hassan Rouhani Iranian Editor Defects While Covering Nuclear Talks in Lausanne

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Amir Hossein Motaghi says he no longer sees any “sense” in his profession as he could only write as he was told

A close media aide to Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, has sought political asylum in Switzerland after travelling to Lausanne to cover the nuclear talks between Tehran and the West.

Amir Hossein Motaghi, who managed public relations for Mr Rouhani during his 2013 election campaign, was said by Iranian news agencies to have quit his job at the Iran Student Correspondents Association (ISCA).

He then appeared on an opposition television channel based in London to say he no longer saw any “sense” in his profession as a journalist as he could only write what he was told.

“There are a number of people attending on the Iranian side at the negotiations who are said to be journalists reporting on the negotiations,” he told Irane Farda television. “But they are not journalists and their main job is to make sure that all the news fed back to Iran goes through their channels.

“My conscience would not allow me to carry out my profession in this manner any more.” Mr Mottaghi was a journalist and commentator who went on to use social media successfully to promote Mr Rouhani to a youthful audience that overwhelmingly elected him to power. » | Ahmed Vahdat and Richard Spencer | Friday, March 27, 2015

Iran Nuclear Talks: Deal Can Be Reached, Says Rouhani

Mr Rouhani said "shared points of view" had emerged
in latest round of talks

BBC AMERICA: Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says that progress made in nuclear talks means a final deal can be reached.

"There is nothing that cannot be resolved," although some differences still remain, Iranian state media quoted him as saying.

US Secretary of State John Kerry also said that "substantial progress" had been made in the talks.

Six world powers are negotiating a deal with Iran aimed at limiting its nuclear activity, with a late March deadline.

Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes but world powers fear it has military ambitions.

Mr Rouhani said that in the current round of talks in Lausanne, Switzerland, "shared points of view emerged in some of the areas where there had been a difference of opinion".

They could become "a foundation for a final agreement", he said, according to state news agency Irna. » | Saturday, March 21, 2015

Enquête: Une délégation lausannoise examine la tombe d'Arafat

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Une délégation de l’Institut de radiophysique de Lausanne est arrivée en Cisjordanie pour préparer l'exhumation de la dépouille du leader palestinien. Elle sera rejointe par des enquêteurs français et des experts suisses.

Une équipe suisse s’est rendue lundi à Ramallah pour examiner la tombe de Yasser Arafat, ont indiqué des sources officielles palestiniennes sous couvert de l’anonymat. Elle doit effectuer des prélèvements sur la dépouille du dirigeant historique palestinien.

La délégation de l’Institut de radiophysique de Lausanne est arrivée lundi à Ramallah et a discuté «des prochaines étapes» avec les ministres de la Santé et de la Justice, Hani Abdine et Ali Mhanna, ainsi que le chef de la commission d’enquête palestinienne sur la mort d’Arafat, Taoufiq Tiraoui, selon ces responsables.

La délégation a visité le mausolée où repose Yasser Arafat. Les enquêteurs français chargés d’une instruction sur la mort du dirigeant palestinien historique et les experts du laboratoire suisse sont attendus à Ramallah le 26 novembre, selon une source proche du dossier. » | ats / afp / ap/Newsnet | lundi 05 novembre 2012