AP: An agreement secured with its greatest global foe, the Obama administration pleaded Tuesday with a more familiar if often difficult negotiating partner not to scuttle last weekend’s Iran nuclear deal: Congress.
Obama, Senate spar over new Iran sanctions threats
Swiss firm hit with record fine for oil sanctions violations
The Hill: A Swiss firm will pay a record $100 million fine for violating oil sanctions targeting Iran, Sudan and Cuba, the Obama administration announced Tuesday. The settlement agreed to by oil services giant Weatherford International is the largest ever with the government outside of the banking industry.
FBI agent missing in Iran now longest US hostage
AFP: Retired FBI agent Robert Levinson on Tuesday became the longest-held hostage in US history, with his family and US officials appealing to the new Iranian leadership for help in finding and releasing him.
Syria opposition to take full possession of Arab League seat
AFP: Ahmad Jarba, speaking at a news conference with Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi, also said the Coalition would hold a meeting sometime next month to discuss strategy ahead of a peace conference scheduled for January 22 in Geneva.
White House launches push to sell its Iran nuclear deal
Wall Street Journal: The Obama administration is mounting an aggressive campaign to head off new congressional sanctions against Iran, arguing they would jeopardize the high-stakes deal sealed this past weekend to curb Tehran’s nuclear program.
Congress wants tough conditions before any final deal with Iran
The Hill: Worried lawmakers are trying to set tough conditions for a final deal with Iran, fearful that President Obama’s interim agreement exposes the U.S. and Israel to danger. They’re readying a bipartisan bill that would redouble sanctions if Iran is not dismantling its nuclear program six months from now.
Wife of American pastor imprisoned in Iran fears for his life
Reuters: The Idaho wife of an Iranian-American Christian pastor imprisoned in Iran said on Monday she felt betrayed and feared for her husband’s life after the Obama administration failed to secure his release as a condition of an Iranian nuclear deal.
Eased sanctions only a small help to Iran’s economy: US
AFP: The partial easing of sanctions on Iran in the weekend nuclear deal will only have a small benefit for the Iranian economy, a senior US Treasury official said Monday. “It will not move the needle” in terms of the country’s economic performance.
Striking a nuclear deal with Iran is only the beginning
Washington Post: The plan of action signed this weekend in Geneva covers not just various confidence-building measures but also principles that will define the final agreement. Western powers are negotiating with a state that has demonstrated scant respect for international norms.
U.S. families of Camp Liberty residents join the worldwide hunger strike
PRNewswire: The U.S. families of thousands of Iranian dissidents, members of Iran’s principal opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), who reside in Camp Liberty, Iraq, have volunteered to join an indefinite hunger strike outside the White House beginning today.
