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Iran rejects any change to nuclear deal; US seeking 'supplemental' deal
by Staff Writers
Tehran (AFP) March 17, 2018

Senior N.Korea official in Finland for US talks
Helsinki (AFP) March 18, 2018 - A senior North Korean diplomat arrived Sunday in Finland for talks with US and South Korean officials on a mooted nuclear summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, local media reported.

Choe Kang Il, deputy director for North American affairs at Pyongyang's foreign ministry, is expected to meet retired US diplomat Kathleen Stephens, according to multiple reports.

The meeting follows three days of talks between North Korean and Swedish officials in Stockholm that apparently fell short of clearing the way for a US-North Korea summit attended by both nation's leaders.

Sweden plays a key liaison role between the West and North Korea and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom met counterpart Ri Yong Ho at the weekend.

Trump earlier this month stunned many observers by agreeing to meet the North Korean leader following months of spiralling tensions on the Korean peninsula over Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

His response triggered a race to set a credible agenda for what would be historic talks between the two leaders.

But no specific time or venue has been set and North Korea has yet to confirm it even made the offer to meet.

Kimmo Lahdevirta, the director of American and Asian affairs at Finland's foreign ministry, told AFP that there would be a "routine meeting" Sunday of officials and academics in Helsinki on the North Korean issue.

He said the talks were "in no way connected" to Ri's Sweden visit, adding that Choe was not meeting any current US officials while in Finland.

Iran will not accept any changes to the nuclear deal, a senior official insisted Saturday, after the United States said it was seeking a "supplemental" accord with European powers.

"We will not accept any changes, any interpretation or new measure aimed at limiting" the 2015 deal between Iran and major powers, said Ali Shamkhani in remarks carried by ISNA news agency.

Shamkhani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, also warned European countries "against the temptation of playing at the same game as the Americans".

"The ballistic programme of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which has a defensive nature, will steadfastly continue," said Shamkhani, who is a close ally of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

On Friday senior US State Department official Brian Hook said that President Donald Trump wanted to reach a "supplemental" deal with the European signatories to the Iran nuclear deal.

This would cover Iran's ballistic missile programme, its regional activities, the expiration of parts of the nuclear deal in the mid-2020s and tighter UN inspections, Hook said.

"We are taking things one week at a time, we are having very good discussions in London, Paris and Berlin," Hook, recently ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's chief of strategy, said.

"There is a lot we agree on and where we disagree we are working to bridge our differences," he said in Vienna.

The 2015 accord between Iran and the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany curtailed Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Iran, which according to the UN atomic watchdog has been abiding by the deal since it came into force in January 2016, has repeatedly ruled out any changes to the agreement.

Trump said in January that the nuclear deal must be "fixed" by May 12 or the United States will walk away.

The European parties to the agreement are desperate to save it and have been scrambling to find ways to persuade Trump not to rip it up.

Shamkhani made the remarks as he met Saturday in Tehran with Yusuf bin Alawi, the minister responsible for foreign affairs in Oman, a key Gulf ally of the US with close ties to Iran.



US seeking 'supplemental' Iran deal with European powers
Vienna (AFP) March 16, 2018 - The US and European powers have had "very good" discussions towards agreeing a "supplemental" accord beyond the Iran nuclear deal by May 12, a senior US official said Friday.

President Donald Trump said in January that the 2015 deal between Iran and major powers must be "fixed" by May 12 or the United States will walk away.

Senior State Department official Brian Hook said on Friday after talks in Berlin and Vienna that Trump wants to reach a "supplemental" deal with the European signatories to the agreement by then.

This would cover Iran's ballistic missile programme, its regional activities, the expiration of parts of the nuclear deal in the mid-2020s and tighter UN inspections, Hook said.

"We are taking things one week at a time, we are having very good discussions in London, Paris and Berlin," Hook, recently ousted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's chief of strategy, told reporters.

"There is a lot we agree on and where we disagree we are working to bridge our differences," Hook said.

He declined to indicate what would happen if and when such an agreement is reached, saying: "We are not under instructions from the president to go beyond seeking an agreement with our European allies."

The 2015 accord between Iran and the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany curtailed Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for sanctions relief.

Iran, which according to the UN atomic watchdog has been abiding by the deal since it came into force in January 2016, has ruled out any changes to the agreement.

The talks in Vienna on Friday, a regular review of the accord, involved Iran and the six other signatories.

Trump's decision this week to replace Tillerson with Mike Pompeo as secretary of state has been widely seen as another bad omen for the agreement.

Tillerson and his erstwhile cabinet ally Defence Secretary Jim Mattis had urged Trump to listen to the Europeans to preserve the agreement.

Pompeo, head of the Central Intelligence Agency, is seen as taking a harder line on Iran.


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NUKEWARS
Tillerson sacking spells doom for Iran nuclear deal
Washington (AFP) March 13, 2018
President Donald Trump's sacking of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson could sound the death knell for the Iran nuclear deal and further strain US ties with key European allies. In explaining his decision to fire Tillerson, Trump said they had disagreed on many topics, but he specifically singled out one dispute: Whether or not to stay in the Iran pact. "When you look at the Iran deal. I thought it was terrible. He thought it was OK," Trump said. "I wanted to either break it or do something, he fe ... read more

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