‘Great Satan’ Meets ‘Axis of Evil’ and Strikes a Deal
Photo Credit: REUTERS/CAROLYN KASTER/POOLBy LOUIS CHARBONNEAU, PARISA HAFEZI AND ARSHAD MOHAMMED.
Saturday night had turned into Sunday morning and four days of talks over Iran’s nuclear program had already gone so far over schedule that the Geneva Intercontinental Hotel had been given over to another event.
A black tie charity ball was finishing up and singers with an after party band at a bar above the lobby were crooning out the words to a Johnny Cash song – “I fell into a burning ring of fire” – while weary diplomats in nearby conference rooms were trying to polish off the last touches of an accord. Negotiators emerged complaining that the hotel lobby smelled like beer.
At around 2:00 a.m., U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and counterparts from Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia were brought to a conference room to approve a final text of the agreement which would provide limited relief of sanctions on Iran in return for curbs to its nuclear programme.
At the last minute, with the ministers already gathered in the room, an Iranian official called seeking changes. Negotiators for the global powers refused. Finally the ministers were given the all clear. The deal, a decade in the making, would be done at last.
Now that the interim deal is signed, talks are far from over as the parties work towards a final accord that would lay to rest all doubts about Iran’s nuclear program.
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Obama: Deal Opens Path to ‘Peaceful’ Iranian Nuclear Program
By CNSNews.com Staff.
President Barack Obama announced at the White House late Saturday that the U.S. government, working with the British, French, Germans, Russians and Chinese, had gotten the government of Iran to agree to curtail parts of its nuclear program in exchange for easing some of the sanctions being imposed on it.
The endgame of the negotiations with Iran, Obama explained, was to allow Iran to have a “peaceful” nuclear program…
Here is the full text of Obama’s statement:
President Barack Obama: Good evening. Today, the United States — together with our close allies and partners — took an important first step toward a comprehensive solution that addresses our concerns with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program.
Since I took office, I’ve made clear my determination to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. As I’ve said many times, my strong preference is to resolve this issue peacefully, and we’ve extended the hand of diplomacy. Yet for many years, Iran has been unwilling to meet its obligations to the international community. So my administration worked with Congress, the United Nations Security Council and countries around the world to impose unprecedented sanctions on the Iranian government.
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