Washington Post (June 25)
“Compromises are part of any negotiation. Any agreement can really be judged only when the text is signed and details are made public. The April framework accord was a solid basis on which to build a credible final deal. Ayatollah Khamenei must decide whether he and his government can live with the economic and political consequences if he sabotages this deal.”
Tags: Agreement, Ayatollah Khamenei, Compromises, Consequences, Deal, Iran, Negotiation
Washington Post (April 1)
“Deal or no deal, the Iran talks have borne fruit” by engaging Iran with the outside world. “Iran is now a diplomatic and political factor in regional and world politics, for better or worse. The right U.S. strategy was to prevent this rising Iran from getting nuclear weapons, not to pretend that it didn’t exist.”
Tags: Deal, Diplomatic, Engaging, Iran, Nuclear weapons, Political, Pretend, Strategy, U.S.
Washington Post (January 19)
The drop in oil prices is hitting Venezuela, Russia and Iran hard. These “three troublesome nations” rely on energy exports for 68-95% of their external revenue. Venezuela now “appears on the edge of a political chasm. Putin will try to fend off domestic upheaval with more foreign aggression. And Iran will make a fateful choice between forging a lifeline to the United States and Europe and consciously embracing isolation and harsh austerity.”
Tags: Aggression, Austerity, Chasm, Energy, Europe, Exports, Iran, Isolation, Oil prices, Putin, Russia, U.S., Venezuela
Washington Post (November 25)
The Iran nuclear talks have been extended, which may prove a good thing. The talks resemble “a labor negotiation in which it’s too costly for workers to go on strike or for management to impose a lockout, so the two sides continue without a contract while negotiations proceed.” Whether this will ultimately lead to success, however, will largely depend on whether Iran decides to be a nation or a cause, pragmatic or zealous.
Washington Post (October 2)
In his negotiations on a nuclear agreement with Iran, “President Obama should resist the temptation to make further concessions in order to complete a long-term deal by November. In the absence of a dramatic change in its positions, Iran should be offered, at best, an extension of the existing arrangement, with the current sanctions left in place — and threatened with tougher measures if it does not accept.”
Tags: Concessions, Extension, Iran, Negotiations, Nuclear agreement, President Obama, Sanctions, Temptation
Euromoney (September)
“The security crisis brought on by the rise of Islamic State could turn Iran from pariah to much-needed partner to the west.” This places Iran “at a crossroads.” Will the nation chose to be “a resource-rich, rejuvenated success story, returned to the international fold and relied upon by western states as a stable force in an increasingly troubled region?” Or, instead, will it continue as “a recession-hit, bad loan-addled failure still barred from western trade and getting steadily, inexorably worse?” The view in Tehran is that it could go either way.”
Tags: Crossroads, Failure, Iran, Islamic State, Pariah, Partner, Recession, Resource-rich, Security crisis, Stable force, Tehran, Western trade
New York Times (June 18)
“President Obama has, so far, struck the right note on Iraq…. He has been cautious— emphasizing the need for political reform in Iraq and reaching out to other countries that could have an impact on its fate.”
Bloomberg (November 25, 2013)
“Critics of a deal on Iran’s nuclear program, both in the U.S Congress and the Israeli government, need to answer a question: Is there a better alternative?” The Geneva deal is hardly perfect, but seen from another perspective it may provide the best opportunity. This “imperfect Iran deal may be U.S.’s least-bad option.”
Tags: Congress, Deal, Geneva, Imperfect, Iran, Israeli, Nuclear program, Opportunity, Option, U.S.
The Economist (October 19)
“A deal that allows Iran to enrich uranium with strict limits would be better than no deal at all…. Allowing Iran to go on enriching uranium is not ideal. But the choices available are not between the good and the bad, but between the bad and the less bad.”
The Times of London (September 17)
“The West is right to seek a diplomatic solution with Tehran to defuse an emerging nuclear threat…. Iran’s nuclear programme is plainly not designed purely to generate electricity. It is also to make atomic bombs and is a threat to already shaky stability of the Middle East.”
Tags: Bombs, Diplomatic solution, Electricity, Iran, Middle East, Nuclear threat, Stability, Tehran, Threat
