Bloomberg: President Barack Obama received support from the chairman of the U.S. Senate intelligence committee in his efforts to dissuade lawmakers from imposing further sanctions on Iran amid international negotiations.
Obama gets Feinstein support to avoid new Iran sanctions
Israel urges France not to waver on Iran
AFP: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged France to stand firm in international negotiations over Iran’s nuclear programme. “We hope France will not yield,” Netanyahu said in an interview to Le Figaro newspaper due out on Saturday.
US officials: Nuke deal offers Iran minor relief
AP: Iran would get only minor relief from economic sanctions under an international proposal to prevent it from producing nuclear weapons, two Obama administration officials said Friday, seeking to calm concerns in Israel and on Capitol Hill that the U.S. and its allies are giving away too much to Tehran.
US believes Iran deal ‘possible’ at next talks
AFP: US officials gearing up for new talks with Iran said Friday a deal could be struck next week in the decade-long bid to rein in its nuclear program, but warned tough issues and Congress could still scupper the negotiations.
U.S. needs to keep promises
Roll Call: It’s been two years since U.S. troops left Iraq, having rid the country of Saddam Hussein and ostensibly leaving behind a democracy that would be a model for the region. We say ostensibly because that certainly hasn’t been the case. Our efforts on that front appear to have been in vain.
Albania refuses to accept Syria’s chemical weapons
AP: The mission to destroy Syria’s poison gas stockpile was dealt a serious blow Friday when Albania refused to host the destruction, but the global chemical weapons watchdog said it is still confident it can eradicate the arsenal outside Syria by the middle of next year.
Bid for more sanctions on Iran could reach Senate next week
Reuters: Legislation to impose tough new sanctions on Iran could come to the Senate floor next week, just as diplomats head to Geneva for a third round of talks aimed at curbing Tehran’s suspected nuclear weapons work.
Why negotiations with Iran are doomed
Bloomberg: If you want to figure out what went wrong in the first round of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, look no further than the news briefing by a “Senior Administration Official” in the U.S. State Department just days before Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Geneva.
Hunger strikers: ‘I don’t know how long they can continue’
This Is Local London: Hunger strikers camped outside the US Embassy are in their 74th day as they continue to campaign for the safety of hostages in Iraq. The group has been sleeping in a makeshift camp outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square since September 1.
Sanctions easing can be reversed if Iran does not deliver: Obama
Reuters: President Barack Obama sought to reassure skeptical U.S. lawmakers on Thursday that any easing of sanctions on Iran that emerges from negotiations could easily be reversed and “ramped back up” if Tehran fails to curb its nuclear program.
