(Reuters) – The U.S. senators behind a tough sanctions bill against Iran said on Wednesday they would push for more penalties against Tehran if they are unhappy with any nuclear deal, signaling a potential battle with the Obama administration less than two weeks before the deadline for an agreement.

New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez and Illinois Republican Mark Kirk said a “good deal” would require strict limits on nuclear-related research, development and procurement and a robust inspection regime for decades in Iran.

Source: ROLL CALL
By Kenneth Maginnis

It is more than simply unfortunate that Western policymakers look at Iran and appear to see only what they want to see. They heap praise on progress in the nuclear negotiations without looking at the actual content. They tune into televised smiles and reasonable-sounding public statements from the Rouhani administration and tune out the bombastic threats, insults and anti-Western rhetoric that invariably accompanies them. They push for large-scale rapprochement with Iran on the apparent assumption that its crimes will disappear if we somehow pretend they don’t exist.

Source: THE WASHINGTON POST

By Brian Murphy November   
The West is facing a “make-or-break moment” to reach a deal with Iran in nuclear talks, German’s foreign minister urged Tuesday after high-level negotiations failed to reach a breakthrough.

The appeal by Germany — part of a six-nation group in talks with Iran — underscores the growing pressures to reach a general pact before a self-imposed Nov. 24 deadline.

BEIRUT/VIENNA (Reuters) – Gunmen killed five nuclear engineers, four of them Syrian and one Iranian, on the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday, a monitoring group said on Monday.

No one claimed responsibility and Syrian and Iranian state media did not mention the attack, which occurred in an area controlled by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

By Warren Strobel
DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran, the United States and the European Union began an unscheduled second day of talks on Monday over disagreements blocking the resolution of a confrontation over Tehran’s nuclear program, U.S. and Iranian officials said.

With two weeks to a deadline for an overall agreement, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and EU envoy Catherine Ashton met in Oman’s capital Muscat to tackle a decade-long dispute which has raised the risk of wider conflict in the Middle East.

The discussions aim to put verifiable limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment work – and any other potential path to a nuclear weapon – in return for a gradual lifting of sanctions.

AFP:US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (L) shake hands as Omani Foreign Minister Yussef bin Alawi (2nd R) and former EU top diplomat Catherine Ashton watch in Muscat on November 9, 2014© Pool/AFP Nicholas KammUS Secretary of State John Kerry (R) and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (L) shake hands as Omani Foreign Minister Yussef bin Alawi (2nd R) and former EU top diplomat Catherine Ashton watch in Muscat on November 9, 2014

Source:  Voice of America

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohmmad Javad Zarif have begun face-to-face talks in Oman just two weeks ahead of a deadline for reaching a nuclear deal.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is also taking part in Sunday’s talks.