I had actually been hopeful and foolishly believed in the optimism until France stepped forward to fulfill Israel's wishes and then Kerry confirmed it by talking down the talks. I have to hand it to the Iranians, though; they are still in there trying.
"Kerry reassures Israel on Iran, but divisions remain" by Michael R. Gordon | New York Times, October 24, 2013
ROME — Secretary of State John Kerry, facing new frictions with America’s most important Middle East allies over its policies in the region, sought to assure Israel on Wednesday....
Before meeting with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, at the residence of the US ambassador here, Kerry said the Obama administration welcomed the change of tone by Iran but “words are no substitute for action.”
Kerry is on the final leg of a three-day visit to European capitals focused on Middle East diplomacy, most notably US efforts to help start a peace conference on the Syrian conflict. But the trip has been punctuated by criticism directed at the United States from its main strategic allies, Saudi Arabia and Israel, and Kerry has been making an effort to assuage them both.
The Saudis, who are strong supporters of the Syrian insurgency, have been particularly upset over what they view as the Obama administration’s lack of resolve in acting against the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, who is now in some ways stronger politically than he was a year ago. Last week the Saudis rejected taking a seat on the UN Security Council in part to express their displeasure.
They have also voiced alarm over the Obama administration’s steps toward rapprochement with Iran, Saudi Arabia’s main rival in the Middle East, and are fearful that the United States could make compromises in negotiations....
The Israelis are even more alarmed at the possibility that the United States might be too pliant in trying to pursue a compromise with Iran. Netanyahu has called Iran’s nuclear program a guise for weapons development and the most serious security threat facing his country.
Kerry’s public statements before his meeting with Netanyahu were focused largely on reassuring the Israelis.
“No deal is better than a bad deal,” Kerry said, a phrase that US officials have frequently used in recent weeks to try to reassure lawmakers in the United States as well as Israel and Persian Gulf states that the White House will not make risky concessions.
Meaning there never really was going to be a deal.
But Netanyahu listed a range of steps that Israel says Iran needs to take to demonstrate that it is not developing nuclear weapons, steps that appeared to go well beyond a compromise that the United States and other world powers are prepared to explore with Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is for civilian use only. The United States and other world powers are scheduled to resume talks with Iran in Geneva on Nov. 7.
Netanyahu, in a joint appearance with Kerry, said Iran must get rid of all of its fissile material and should not be allowed to have any centrifuges to enrich uranium. Iran should also close its underground nuclear facilities and abandon its construction of a heavy-water plant that would produce plutonium, Netanyahu added.
And the Israeli plant at Dimona?
Having staked out broad demands on the Iranian nuclear program, Netanyahu argued that the international sanctions should not be eased in return for a “partial deal.”
Negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians were also a major subject on Kerry and Netanyahu’s agenda, though not one they were prepared to discuss publicly in detail.
Trying to convey the impression that there is momentum in those talks, Kerry said Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had met 13 times and “are meeting even now.” Martin S. Indyk, Kerry’s special envoy for those talks, is in Jerusalem to facilitate the discussions, the secretary of state emphasized.
Indyk is not allowed in the room at the request of the Israelis.
Despite the multiple meetings, it is not apparent what, if any, headway has been made. When the talks began in July, Kerry said the goal was to complete a comprehensive Middle East peace agreement in nine months, and a third of that time has elapsed.
Kerry has been trying to move the talks along; he met recently in London with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, and has had frequent conversations with Netanyahu. Kerry has set aside the entire afternoon and evening for his discussions here with Netanyahu.
On Monday in Paris, Kerry met with senior diplomats from the Arab League to maintain Arab support for the talks.
In an apparent effort to influence Israeli public opinion, Kerry noted on Monday that Prince Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia had endorsed the concept of Middle East peace, one in which Israel would have normal relations with all Arab and Muslim nations.
But Qatar’s foreign minister, Khalid bin Mohamed al-Attiyah, suggested in a joint appearance with Kerry on Monday that the United States needed to put more pressure on Israel and play more of an active role in suggesting compromises. Attiyah said “actual” US participation in the negotiations was needed.
Kind of hard when his appointed representative is kept out of the room.
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Other places Kerry has visited in his recent swing through the region:
Kerry presses Israel over peace negotiations
[It is nice to see Kerry turn his sharp tongue towards one of America's true enemies, Netanyahu. Oh, to have been a fly on that wall.] -- Americans Grow Weary of Serving the Repulsive State of Israel
UPDATE:
“Let me ask you something: How, if you say you’re working for peace and you want peace and a Palestine that is a whole Palestine that belongs to the people who live there, how can you say we’re planning to build in the place that will eventually be Palestine?” Kerry said in the interview, causing much consternation among Israeli commentators."
That must be what he meant.
Kerry persists as Mideast talks flounder
It bears all the hallmarks of shuttle diplomacy, even though I was told he was not doing that.
"Syrian opposition undecided on talks, John Kerry says; Leaders will meet next week about Geneva conference" by Michael R. Gordon and Alan Cowell | New York Times, October 23, 2013
LONDON — Saudi Arabia has wanted the United States to do more to train and arm rebel fighters. And the Saudi leadership was hoping that President Obama would order a cruise missile attack on the Syrian military in response to what Western and Arab powers said was the Syrian government’s Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack near Damascus.
“We know that the Saudis were obviously disappointed that the strike did not take place,” Kerry said, referring to the cruise missile attack the White House had planned before it seized on a Russian alternative proposal to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons program.
Saudi Arabia has also been worried that the Obama administration may be too eager to seek a compromise with Iran over its nuclear program and was unhappy that Washington did not take a stronger stance against the Muslim Brotherhood when President Mohammed Morsi governed Egypt.
He defended those remarks and the NYT edited it out when I'm staring at the phrase in my printed version?
As for the Morsi and the Egyptian MB, the Saudis and others were ready to float them a loan after he turned down the IMF. Then the U.S.-approved coup went forward and the Saudis flipped. They are now providing aid to the generals. It is worth noting that the MB is an exten$ion of oil-rich emirates and such.
Kerry said he had discussed these issues with Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, when he met with him Monday in Paris.
Saudi Arabia was among the 11 nations that issued the communiqué Tuesday, and Kerry insisted that the Saudis and Americans were now “on the same page” regarding Syria.
He reassured us and them that ties are solid.
The London talks group also included representatives of Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, Jordan, Italy, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.
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Related:
"In an apparent warning to Iran, Secretary of State John F. Kerry on Sunday tried to reassure America’s Arab friends that the United States will not allow them to be attacked ‘‘from outside,’’ in an apparent warning to Iran. ‘‘The United States will be there for the defense of our friends and our allies,’’ Kerry said. ‘‘We will not allow those countries to be attacked from outside. We will stand with them.’’ Kerry added that the United States would never allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons."
Good thing they are not building them then.
“If there aren’t more constraints put on the Iranian centrifuge program, then you haven’t accomplished very much at all,” David Albright, the president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, said on a recent conference call organized by the Israel Project, a nonprofit organization.... The potential agreement was derided by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, who called it the “deal of the century” for Iran and said that Israel rejected it unequivocally."
"Kerry said during his recent visit to Israel that the United States was asking Iran, as part of an interim accord, to agree to a “complete freeze over where they are today.”
But when it comes to continued settlement expansion by Israel.... it's all calibrated toward Iran while destroying any two-state solution (which has already been destroyed by Israeli land seizures).
"It is remarkable that these talks are continuing, considering that they have always been doomed to failure primarily because the United States has its orders from its Jewish masters to make sure these talks fail…. Israel does not want peace, they only want war, and they definitely want their minions in the United States to attack and destroy Iran.
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Related: Thousands rally against United States in Iran
I don't care what the Zionist pre$$ says they have on their hands, I don't want US missiles bombing them in any case. No more wars based on Israeli lies for Israeli hegemony. No more lives lost in service to the Jew World Order.
Also see:
Iranian musician kills three, self over ‘petty conflict’ in N.Y., manager says
Fellow musician kills two members of Yellow Dogs band
Those Iranians are so unreasonable, 'eh? Can't even get along in a rock-and-roll band; how they gonna make peace with anyone?
Also see:
Iranian musician kills three, self over ‘petty conflict’ in N.Y., manager says
Fellow musician kills two members of Yellow Dogs band
Those Iranians are so unreasonable, 'eh? Can't even get along in a rock-and-roll band; how they gonna make peace with anyone?
