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by Staff Writers Washington (AFP) March 22, 2015
Israel's elections, which saw Benjamin Netanyahu clinch a third term, will not greatly affect Barack Obama's defense of any deal reached with Iran, the US president said. "I don't think it will have a significant impact," Obama told The Huffington Post in an interview Friday published in full on Saturday. Iran and six world powers are in negotiations to clinch a landmark deal that would have the country scale back its controversial nuclear program in return for relief from sanctions. Western powers in London affirmed their "unity of purpose" in Iran nuclear talks Saturday, urging the Islamic Republic to take "difficult decisions." Netanyahu won re-election this week after a close-fought parliamentary campaign. The Israeli leader opposes any accommodation with Tehran and came to Washington during his election campaign to address US lawmakers, denouncing the agreement under negotiation as a "bad deal." Obama, however, was cautiously optimistic about the progress of the nuclear talks while acknowledging the bitterness between Iran and Israel. "Obviously, there's significant skepticism in Israel generally about Iran, and understandably. Iran has made vile comments, anti-Semitic comments, comments about the destruction of Israel. "It is precisely for that reason that even before I became president, I said Iran could not have a nuclear weapon," Obama added. "What is going to have an effect on whether we get a deal done is, number one, is Iran prepared to show, to prove to the world that it is not developing a nuclear weapon, and can we verify that in an intrusive, consistent way," Obama said. "Frankly, they have not yet made the kind of concessions that are I think going to be needed for a final deal to get done. But they have moved, and so there's the possibility." The foreign ministers' gathering in London came a day after the latest talks between Iran and the so-called P5+1 group -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany -- ended without a breakthrough. The complex deal on the table would likely involve Iran reducing its nuclear activities, allowing tight inspections, and limiting development of new nuclear machinery. In exchange, Iran -- which denies wanting nuclear weapons -- would get relief from the mountain of painful sanctions that have strangled its oil exports and hammered its economy.
Iran president says all nuclear issues can be resolved "I believe an agreement is possible. There is nothing that cannot be resolved and the other party must make its final decision for this," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying. Rouhani's comments came a day after the latest round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 group of world powers -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany -- ended without a breakthrough. The long-running talks are aimed at putting an Iranian nuclear bomb out of reach in exchange for easing sanctions on its economy. "In this round of negotiations (in Lausanne, Switzerland) there were differences on some issues," Rouhani said, but noting that "common views emerged that can be the basis of a final agreement." However he added: "Some points of disagreement persist." The negotiations are to resume on Wednesday, leaving the two sides with just one week to meet a March 31 deadline for agreeing the outlines of a nuclear deal they hope will end a 12-year deadlock. US Secretary of State John Kerry was to leave Switzerland on Saturday for talks in London with his British, French and German counterparts, the State Department said. On Friday Kerry spoke by telephone with the foreign ministers of Russia and China, the other two powers involved in talks that officially resumed after the 2013 election of Rouhani. Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who faced Kerry in talks all week, said Saturday his team had been willing to work through the weekend, but the P5+1 needed time to "coordinate," hinting at a split between the world powers. "In some cases, their diversity of interests, political views or personal issues or personalities became more sensitive than the actual negotiations," he wrote on his Facebook page, without naming any of the P5+1 countries. The highly complex mooted agreement, due to be finalised by the end of June, is aimed at assuring the world Iran will not build nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian energy programme. It would likely involve Iran reducing in scope its nuclear activities, allowing ultra-tight inspections, exporting atomic material and limiting development of new nuclear machinery. In exchange, Iran -- which denies wanting nuclear weapons -- would get staggered relief from the mountain of painful sanctions that have strangled its oil exports and hammered its economy.
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