From Kerry’s latest press availability, in Geneva, he repeatedly stated that the goal was to make sure Iran doesn’t get nuclear weapons– language attuned to Israel and its friends– but he also offered many positive signals about the talks:
I want to say that the negotiations were conducted with mutual respect. They were very serious…
We came to Geneva to narrow the differences. And I can tell you without any exaggeration we not only narrowed differences and clarified those that remain, but we made significant progress in working through the approaches to this question of how one brings in a program that guarantees this peaceful nature. There’s no question in my mind that we are closer now, as we leave Geneva, than we were when we came, and that with good work and good faith over the course of the next weeks, we can in fact secure our goal…
He alluded to Israel and its allies in the Congress:
I particularly am anxious to return to brief the President and to share with Congress and others what we’ve learned and what we are thinking as we look forward. We also understand there are very strong feelings about the consequences of the choices we face for our allies, and we respect that. Some of them are absolutely directly, immediately involved and we have enormous respect, needless to say, for those concerns.
A reporter asked him about Congress standing in the way, by pushing once again for further sanctions against Iran.
Well, let me … just tell you point blank that this is an issue of such consequence that it really needs to rise or fall on the merits, not on politics. People need to stop and think about what happens each day now that you don’t have an agreement. Each day that you don’t have an agreement, Iran will continue to enrich, and Iran will continue to put centrifuges in, and Iran will continue its program. What we were looking to do here – and will do, I believe – is freeze that program in place so that it is not in a position to continue while the real negotiation goes on to figure out what the future final agreement would look like. And that takes time.
Now, it seems to me that the members of Congress and others in the world understand that you need to give diplomacy the chance to exhaust all the remedies available to it if you are ultimately going to exercise your ultimate option, which is the potential use of force. The world wants to know that it was a last resort, not a first resort. So I believe it is essential for Congress, essential for all of our countries – and I think we all share this – the P5+1 is absolutely united in the notion that we must pursue diplomacy as a means of trying to prevent Iran from acquiring a weapon…
Meantime, the Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, has been hammering for an agreement on twitter, emphasizing the good faith of the Iranians, the new historical moment, and the narrow window:
The West should not miss this unique opportunity. Our nation is participating in the Geneva negotiations with strong will & determination.
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) November 9, 2013
The negotiating sides should recognize that the current unique atmosphere was brought about by our people in our recent election. #IranTalks
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) November 9, 2013
The world has changed. Intl politics is no longer a zero-sum game. World leaders are expected to lead in turning threats into opportunities.
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) November 9, 2013
But here is some evidence of the political forces inside the Iranian government, from the account said to be Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Khameini, talking last week about Zionist control of the United States.
U.S. has to take heed of the #Zionist regime but… https://t.co/ipPdMIKgV6 pic.twitter.com/gbQxrttlTL
— khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) November 5, 2013
That tweet links to a Facebook post in which Ayatollah Khameini is quoted as saying this to students last week:
The paws of the Zionist financially powerful individuals and companies have clutched the American government, Congress and officials in a way that they have to heed them, we do not have to heed them. We said it from day one, and we still say it today and will say it later on too: We consider the Zionist regime illegitimate and bastard. It is a regime which has been established based on conspiracy and is being maintained and guarded based on conspiracy and conspiratorial policies.
Illegitimate and bastard, is that redundant? Speaking of conspiracy theory, here is part of the reason so many in the world believe our government is clutched by Zionism: a photo that the State Department sent out from Israel, two days ago, of the team. I believe it’s been Obama’s unofficial policy to have as many Jews as possible on Middle East policy so as to keep the lobby on board. Though I don’t believe that Lowenstein is a Zionist any more than the Jewish author of this post is.
Description: Secretary of State John Kerry speaks with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro, U.S. Special Envoy for Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Martin Indyk, and Deputy Special Envoy Frank Lowenstein about Middle East peace negotiations before departing Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, en route to Geneva, Switzerland, on November 8, 2013. – State Dept Image
Meantime, more Obama officials are going out to hold Israel’s hand. Barak Ravid in Haaretz:
A delegation of high-ranking U.S. officials is set to arrive in Jerusalem on Sunday to update the Netanyahu government on the weekend talks in Geneva about Iran’s nuclear program.
The delegation will be led by Wendy Sherman, the U.S. undersecretary for political affairs, who heads the U.S. negotiating team on the matter.
@Phil: Illegitimate and bastard, is that redundant?
It is in the context of 18th C. domestic law when “issue” born out of wedlock had no right under the law to an inheritance, i.e. they were illegitimate b/c they were not recognized under the law. And bastard meant the same.
But if you take “illegitimate” in a more literal, 21st C. sense and “bastard” it its more plebeian sense, he probably is referring to Israel as a country that has no foundation on international law and that is acting like a complete dick. “Dick” probably carried a different connotation back in the 18 C., too.
How far down the this road is Obama willing to go, holding hands w/ Bibi and turning his back on what is right and in the best interests of the ME?
And the reason I’m asking is b/c of Obama’s absolutely despicable decision to cut off funding to UNESCO over the Palestinian statehood issue. That decision has once again floated to the surface of the bowl of Obama’s greatest debacles, as USG and GoI have, essentially, gotten booted out of UNESCO.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2013/11/us-israel-lose-unesco-voting-rights-2013118131753600731.html
In the mean time UNESCO’s budget is down 22%, and assistance to those in this world who need it most has been slashed, to the disgrace of all actual Americans and to the glee of all Israel-firsters.
OK, I know there are blind, hood-winked Obamophiles out there who are going to say it’s all Congress’ doing, and, yes, AIPAC. Tired of hearing it. A leader would have done the right thing in spite of the elected Zionists and shamed them out of office, if necessary. Somebody needs to start leading the country.
Israel destoy peace with Palestinians and try to destroy possible peace between Iran/US. A “bastard regime” indeed.
Annie, the US is selective in its abiding by its own legislation. I’m thinking of the latest military overthrow of the elected President of Egypt and the US legislation in place for such an eventuality. The US simply “declared” it a non-military change of government and got away with the continued funding of the Egyptian military. It could have worked on a similar wording gimmick to continue funding UNESCO.
“We consider the Zionist regime illegitimate and bastard. ” (Ayatollah Khamenei)
What to say about all the congress people that keep bowing to Israel because of the monies they are getting from the lobby? Surely Israelis don’t believe this is about love for Israel.
Before presenting his/her case in support of Israel every congressional cash whore should be required to disclose the amount of campaign contributions received from AIPAC (their votes are bought with our own tax money the Congress appropriates as aid to Israel – talk about Catch 22).