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Administration ups efforts to prevent Congress from passing new penalties against Tehran that could put kibosh on nuclear deal The Obama administration Tuesday stepped up lobbying against congressional action for new sanctions on Iran, with the White House warning such a move would lead to war. “The American people justifiably and understandably prefer a peaceful solution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and this agreement, if it’s achieved, has the potential to do that,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. “The alternative is military action.” Earlier in the day State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said John Kerry...

As PM demands that Washington keep up the economic pressure on Tehran, Kerry prepares to ward off new sanctions bills Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday fired another volley in what has turned into an ongoing, very public war of words with the Obama administration, saying that from what he had seen of a proposed interim solution to the Iranian nuclear standoff, the terms would allow Tehran to advance toward an atomic weapons capability while throwing off the yoke of economic sanctions. “Israel prefers a diplomatic option to other options, but we demand a real diplomatic solution in order to...

Talks in Geneva between world powers and Iran ended late Saturday night without a deal, after hitting a snag earlier in the day when France questioned the terms of a proposed agreement. Chances of bridging all differences appeared to diminish as the day went on, but efforts continued. The foreign ministers of the seven delegations discussing Iran held a last-ditch meeting late Saturday, and were later joined by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in an apparent effort to salvage the talks. Earlier Saturday, Zarif said talks would resume within seven to 10 days, if an agreement would not be...

Two senior Iranian MPs accused French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius Saturday of defending Israel, which objects to world powers reaching a deal with Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme. Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, spokesman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said "the behaviour of the French representative in the nuclear talks shows that France is trying to blackmail" Iran. "While the French people want better ties between Tehran and Paris, unfortunately the French government prefers the will of Zionist regime," said Naqavi Hosseini. Esmaeel Kosari, a fellow conservative and member of the committee, expressed regret that Fabius's comments "express the positions...

Op-ed: It is morally disgraceful for US president to pressure Jews to turn their back on Israeli concerns While the Iranians are continuing installing hundreds of new advanced centrifuges every month, the Obama administration has been pressuring US Jewish organizations to stop lobbying in support of US legislation to tighten the economic sanctions against Iran, turn their back on Israeli concerns, and side with President Obama’s wishful thinking of a possible diplomatic solution with Iran. It is quite disturbing for the president to ask any US organization to turn against a democratic ally for the sake of appeasing and accommodating...

A trilateral meeting between US Secretary of State John Kerry, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jazad Zarif was underway Saturday evening in Geneva on the contents of a draft agreement on Iran’s nuclear program. A senior member of the Iranian negotiations team told reporters Saturday that a draft agreement has been prepared and would be considered by all sides during the meeting. “The text of the draft agreement has been prepared and initial negotiations [over it] will take place in a trilateral meeting among Zarif, Kerry and Ashton,” Majid Takht Ravanchi was quoted as...

After negotiating with help of US secretary of state, French FM stresses importance of Israel's security concerns, says there will be no deal; US diplomats tell 'LA Times' talks will continue at least into next week. France said on Saturday there was no certainty nuclear talks under way with Iran in Geneva would succeed because of major stumbling blocks over an initial proposed text on a deal, and the importance of Israel's security concerns. "As I speak to you, I cannot say there is any certainty that we can conclude" the talks, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on France...

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “in a state of shocked disbelief” at the deal apparently taking shape in Geneva over Iran’s nuclear program, Israeli television news reports said Friday night. Netanyahu, the reports on Israel’s Channel 10 and Channel 2 news said, had “an unprecedented confrontation” with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Tel Aviv on Friday morning over the possible deal, which he publicly described as “a very, very bad deal” and which he implored Kerry “not to rush to sign” and to “reconsider.” The Netanyahu government is “in a crisis of faith” with the Obama administration...

“I met Secretary Kerry right before he [left] to Geneva. I reminded him that he said that no deal is better than a bad deal. And the deal that is being discussed in Geneva right now is a bad deal. Iran is not required to take apart even one centrifuge. But the international community is relieving sanctions on Iran for the first time after many years,” he said. “Iran gets everything that it wanted at this stage and pays nothing. And this is when Iran is under severe pressure. I urge Secretary Kerry not to rush to sign, to wait,...

Prime minister rejects proposal asking Iran to halt its nuclear program for six months in exchange for temporary sanctions relief. GENEVA - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a conference in Jerusalem on Thursday that Israel completely rejects the proposal being discussed with Iran vis-à-vis its nuclear program in Geneva. "It will be a historical mistake"', he said. A U.S. official in Geneva said Wednesday that the powers want Iran to halt its nuclear program for six months in exchange for temporary sanctions relief. Netanyahu said that accepting the compromise will allow Iran to continue developing its nuclear program. "The...

Israel announced early Thursday, Nov. 7, that it is utterly opposed to the new proposal for Iran’s nuclear program which the United States plans to put before the two-day Geneva conference beginning later today. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, when he met US Secretary of State John Kerry in Jerusalem Wednesday night, bitterly accused the Obama administration of yielding to the Russian-backed Iranian position. Should Tehran renege on the deal, the US proposal leaves it with the capacity for enriching enough weapons-grade uranium in 10 days to build several nuclear weapons. This US proposal calls for Iran to halt enrichment of...

"Israel in the last few hours has learned that a proposal will be brought before the P5+1 in Geneva in which Iran will cease all enrichment at 20 percent and slow down work on the heavy water reactor in Arak, and will receive in return the easing of sanctions," an Israeli official told AFP. He went on to say Jerusalem considers this a bad deal, and "will oppose it strongly."

The endgame is upon us. The IAEA is not known for reckless rhetoric, and is not considered especially favorable to Israel. According to this former IAEA official, Iran will have a nuclear bomb within the next month, if not within two weeks (if they rush). Prime Minister Netanyahu has declared, repeatedly, that Israel will not allow the Islamist regime of Iran to produce nuclear weapons. There is good reason for this – the Iranian regime has made no secret of its genocidal hatred of Jews and its desires to wipe Israel off the face of the map. It is the...

TEHRAN -- At least 10,000 Iranians protested outside the former U.S. Embassy in Tehran Monday, burning American flags and effigies of Barack Obama on the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the building. Annual demonstrations take place at the site, marking the date on which activists stormed the embassy 34 years ago and took 52 staff hostage for 444 days -- an act that severed diplomatic ties with the U.S. for more than three decades. But this year’s demonstration was larger than usual, fueled by anger among Iranians at President Hassan Rouhani's recent moves to reopen dialogue with the West....

Amidror says Israel must remove Iran's existential threat by diplomacy if possible, but if not, then by "other means." Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei put a wrinkle in his country’s “charm offensive” on Sunday, saying Israel was an “illegitimate and bastard regime.” His comments, posted on his Twitter account, came just a few days before a second round of talks in Geneva between his nuclear negotiators and the P5+1, made up of the US, Russia, China, Germany, France and Britain. Even before Khamenei’s tweet, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, speaking at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting, said, Iran...

At link per FR

Consider it a very small victory for Iran. Forbes’s latest “The World’s Most Powerful People” list places Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, four spots higher than Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Khamenei, who comes in at #23 this year, a spot ahead of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, actually dropped two places from last year, when he ranked #21. Reports that Khamenei’s health is failing don’t seem to have affected his status on the global stage. The supreme leader of the Islamic Republic, having final say on all domestic and foreign policy issues, has seen his country benefit from...

Okay folks... I've had this eating at me for a couple of years and am to the point that I am seeking help from my FReinds.Here is the deal... When I was a kid growing up in the late 1960's, there was a television commercial/PSA that was nothing more than a male voiceover and slow motion video of a hydrogen bomb explosion. Other than the voiceover, the only sound was a gong being struck everytime another "blossom" of the explosion would flare.Does anyone else remember this? If so, does anyone with a better memory than mine have any further details...

"We are a partnership of peoples and a partnership of interests, and the key interest is fighting terrorism,” Netanyahu said. “I know, Mr. President, that you have been plagued by this scourge. I want you to know that Israel has been on the front lines of fighting terrorism for many years and we’ve done so successfully, and we stand ready to help all responsible nations fight terrorism.” “I can say that the foremost sponsor of terrorism in the world is Iran, and this same Iran is now on a quest to preserve its program to achieve nuclear weapons,” said Netanyahu....

A large explosion followed by heavy gunfire was heard late Monday near the U.S. Embassy in Yemen's capital Sanaa, security officials and residents said.