Kerry Criticizes Iran Talks Critics
Secretary of State John Kerry points a finger at critics of the Iran nuclear negotiations and challenges them to come up with a better plan. So far, he says, he hasn #39;t seen one. (March 25)...
By: Associated Press
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Kerry Criticizes Iran Talks Critics - Video
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BBC History Documentary 2015 - Iran & Persia The Fall of a Shah BBC History Documentary Part 2 2 - Video
Story highlights Israeli intelligence minister met with French delegation, his spokesman says WSJ: Israel used information it obtained to try to undercut support for a deal "These allegations are utterly false," an Israeli official says of the spying claim
The newspaper reported late Monday on its website that Israel had obtained confidential information about the negotiations to help it argue against a potential deal.
"These allegations are utterly false," the senior official in the Israeli Prime Minister's office told CNN. "The state of Israel does not conduct espionage against the United States or Israel's other allies."
The Israeli government's use of the information it allegedly gleaned -- sharing it with U.S. lawmakers and others to undercut support for a deal -- was what really angered the White House, the Journal reported Monday, citing current and former U.S. officials.
"It is one thing for the U.S. and Israel to spy on each other. It is another thing for Israel to steal U.S. secrets and play them back to U.S. legislators to undermine U.S. diplomacy," a senior U.S. official briefed on the matter said, according to the newspaper.
The Israeli espionage efforts included eavesdropping and also acquiring information from confidential U.S. briefings, informants and diplomatic contacts in Europe, the report says.
The senior Israeli official told CNN that "the false allegations are clearly intended to undermine the strong ties between the United States and Israel and the security and intelligence relationship we share."
That's not to say Israeli officials haven't been asking around about the Iran nuclear talks, as participating parties race to get a framework agreement ahead of a March 31 deadline.
Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz and Yossi Cohen, Netanyahu's national security adviser, led an Israeli delegation that met early this week with a negotiating team from France, Israeli Intelligence Ministry spokesman Eyal Basson said.
The same Israeli officials left France on Tuesday morning for the United Kingdom to meet with Britain's delegation on the Iran nuclear talks, according to Basson.
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Israel denies it spied on U.S. in Iran nuclear talks - CNN.com
Tehran An Iranian official on Tuesday rebuked the chief of the United Nations atomic agency for demanding snap inspections of Iran's nuclear sites, saying the request hindered efforts to reach an agreement with world powers, state TV reported.
The United States and five other world powers face an end-of-the-month deadline to reach a framework agreement with Iran on its nuclear program. Western nations suspect Tehran is pursuing a nuclear weapons capability alongside the civilian program. Iran denies such allegations, insisting its nuclear activities are entirely peaceful.
Earlier this month Yukiya Amano, the head of the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency, said Tehran should agree to snap inspections to reassure the international community.
Iran's nuclear spokesman Behrouz Kamalvandi said Mr. Amano's comments harm the delicate negotiations. "It would be much better if Amano only talked about the IAEA's seasonal and monthly reports," he said, according to state TV.
Last June, Mr. Kamalvandi said Iran may accept snap inspections as part of a final nuclear agreement.
Iran and the so-called P5+1 the US, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany hope to reach a rough deal on the nuclear program by the end of March and a final agreement by June 30. Iran has called for a single-stage final accord soon.
The latest round of nuclear negotiations ended in Lausanne on Friday after six days of intense discussions among representatives of Iran, the US, and the European Union.
At a UN Security Council briefing by the Iran sanctions committee Tuesday, French Ambassador Francois Delattre said progress in the negotiations "at this point is not sufficient." Britain's deputy ambassador Peter Wilson warned that "we will not agree to a bad deal" and said Iran must show greater flexibility and make tough decisions in the days ahead.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said any deal reached will be "linked to a thorough review" of the UN sanctions regime on Iran.
The talks are to resume Wednesday. Among the unresolved issues meant to be part of an agreement is a ruling by the atomic agency on whether Iran worked on nuclear arms in the past.
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Iran denies UN request for snap inspections of nuclear sites (+video)
SEOUL If international sanctions on Iran are lifted pronto a condition Iran is demanding as part of any nuclear deal how hard might it be to reimpose them, in the likely event that Iran cheats? For a glimpse of just how tough it could be, take the case of Irans Bank Mellat, headquartered in Tehran, but with a branch in Seoul where, during a recent trip to South Korea, I dropped by for a look.
Occupying spacious quarters on the 13th and 14th floors of a high-rise office building in Seouls busy Gangnam district, this branch of Bank Mellat appeared to have no customers on the premises. That was no surprise, because for several years now, Bank Mellat in Seoul has been under sanctions by the U.S., United Nations and the South Korean government.
But Bank Mellats branch in Seoul is not actually closed. When I pressed the button on the front door intercom, someone buzzed me in. The lights were on. The marble floor was polished. On a long curved front counter, a sign advertised advice on letters of credit. Seated behind the desk, under portraits of Irans Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his predecessor, the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, were two South Korean women. They greeted me in English, listened to my request for an interview, first told me no, then told me maybe, then ushered me into a conference room while they disappeared down the hall to summon a senior bank official.
The conference room was decorated with gold-framed certificates, written in English, naming Bank Mellat the Bank of the Year for Iran, for the years 2000 and 2002. In a brown wood frame there was also a statement of Bank Mellats Quality Policy, dated Sept. 15, 2003, and promising among other things To develop through ongoing efficiency the success of our customers and of our Branch.
There was time to reflect on how that had since turned out, including the dogged effort it took for the U.S. to persuade South Korea to impose sanctions on this branch of Bank Mellat. The highlights described in this article are gleaned from U.S. State Department cables posted by Wikileaks, plus press coverage, United Nations documents and U.S. Treasury designations and press releases.
Basically, U.S. allegations, warnings and diplomatic demarches, coupled with U.S. and U.N. sanctions, piled up for more than three years before South Koreas government the authority with jurisdiction finally blacklisted Bank Mellats branch in Seoul. During that time, South Korea was benefiting from billions of dollars worth of business every year with Iran, buying oil and providing goods and services such as construction. Many of the related transactions flowed through Bank Mellat in Seoul. Many of these dealings were surely legitimate, but some, according to the U.S. government, were not.
In August, 2007, the State Department dispatched a cable to the U.S. embassy in Seoul, asking that the South Korean government be informed of serious U.S. concerns about possible Iranian financial activities in your country, especially insofar as Seouls branch of Bank Mellat is concerned.
South Korea responded by providing U.S. authorities with a 46-page report that gave Bank Mellat a clean bill of health. Treasurys then-under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, Stuart Levey, traveled to Seoul to stress U.S. concerns. South Korea agreed to continue investigating the Seoul branch of Bank Mellat.
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Lesson Of An Iran Sanctions Saga In Seoul