Source:   The Los Angeles Times

By: PAUL RICHTER

the latest obstacle to the U.S. and five other nations finalizing a nuclear deal with Iran by this month’s deadline is an unexpected new demand from Tehran for quick relief from United Nations sanctions.

For most of the last nine months of negotiations, Iran and a diplomatic bloc of six world powers have focused on first easing unilateral economic sanctions imposed by the U.S. and European nations. Under the talks, if Iran accepts restrictions intended to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon, the U.S. and other countries would begin lifting sanctions designed to cripple Iran’s oil and financial industries.

(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.