Hopes for a nuclear deal emerging from the P5+1 talks with Iran in Geneva continue to grow tonight, with reports that the talks, which are extended into Saturday, will include 5 of the 6 P5+1 foreign ministers, as well as Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif.
The only minister not expected to attend is China’s Wang Yi. China is sending their deputy Foreign Minister in his place, according to Western diplomats quoted in the media.
There had been hopes for a deal made today, but the complexity of the matter made it clear another day was needed. Still, all those foreign ministers, along with EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, presupposes that the talks are close to a breakthrough.
An interim deal is said to include Iran paring back parts of its nuclear program for six months in return for some sanction easing, though exactly how much remains to be seen.
Any such deal is going to face stark opposition from Israel, which has condemned the idea of deal and continues to push for more sanctions. As goes Israel, so goes it’s powerful lobby, and by extension much of the US Congress, so keeping the deal at least a little palatable to the hawks without being watered down to meaninglessness is going to be a challenge.
Well, the world is a little more important than the Likud party of Israel, master manipulators of the US Senate though they might be.
I know the last 2 decades have not been very good for the optimism of pacifists but let's try to stay hopeful here. Peace with Iran could be Obama's true legacy to heck with the ACA. We should be praising Obama and trying to get him to do more to achieve this peace. The Democrats need to be convinced that peace with Iran and an end to the sanctions is the only way they can make up for abandoning the Anti-War movement and its ideals after Obama was elected.