Obama, Merkel Urge Iran to Take the “Decisions Necessary” for Accord

WASHINGTON – U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Iran on Friday to take “the decisions necessary” to resolve the remaining issues so a framework accord on Tehran’s nuclear program can be reached before Tuesday, the White House said.

In a communique, the White House said that Obama and Merkel spoke on the phone about the ongoing negotiations to reach a deal on Iran’s nuclear program before the cutoff date next Tuesday, March 31.

Both leaders “reaffirmed their commitment to achieving a long term comprehensive deal that fully and verifiably ensures that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful,” the White House said.

The final phase of negotiations began Friday in the Swiss city of Lausanne with a new meeting between Iran and the United States, and the talks will grow more intense this weekend with the confirmed presence of several foreign ministers of the P5+1 Group.

The P5+1 Group is made up of five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – plus Germany, but those who have led the negotiations in recent weeks are the delegations of Iran and the U.S.

All have tried for 10 years, and particularly for the last two years, to reach an accord to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is exclusively for peaceful uses, and in exchange, the regime of the ayatollahs would have the economic sanctions lifted that are decimating its economy.

The time for reaching the framework accord ends next Tuesday and, should it be achieved, the following three months will be used to hammer out the technical details in order to finalize the pact by June 30.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday during his daily press conference that Obama receives daily updates on the negotiations with Iran and recalled that reaching an accord is high on his list of priorities

Political prisoners condemn Iran regime aggression in Yemen

A group of political prisoners in Iran issued a statement condemning the meddling and aggressions of the clerical regime in Yemen.

The statement by the political prisoner who are being held in Gohardasht Prison in the city of Karaj described the ‘the war and violence in Yemen’ as a definite consequence of the West’s policy of appeasement’ towards the Iranian regime which refer to as Daesh (IS) ruling Iran.

The statement which was published in a number of Persian language websites said: “The war and violence in Yemen is a definite consequence of the appeasement policy by the Obama administration vis-à-vis the aggressive policies of the Daeshs ruling Iran throughout the region.”

The statement added: “This ludicrous and contradictory policy of the government of the United States has led the regime ruling Iran to abuse the power vacuum in the Middle East and to now engulf the region in total violence, insecurity and war.”

White House facing pressure to confront Iran regime

As chaos and bloodshed have spread in the Middle East the White House is facing heavy pressure from its traditional Sunni Arab allies, Congress and some in the U.S. military to confront Iran more forcefully over its support for militant groups, the Washington Post reports.

Although the U.S. has supported the Saudi-led attacks in Yemen with intelligence and logistical help, and in Iraq, has pressured Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to disentangle Iranian-backed groups from government forces in exchange for the firepower of U.S. warplanes over the city of Tikrit, the critics of Administration believe the push to confront the Iranian regime has come too late.

Some former senior U.S. military commanders, meanwhile, said they have been warning for years of the need to do more to deal with what they see as Iran’s efforts to sow chaos through its armed proxies, the Post reported.

Ret. Marine Gen. James Mattis, who oversaw U.S. forces in the Middle East from 2010 to 2013, was among the most insistent voices inside the U.S. military pushing for a policy focused on punishing Iran and its proxies.

Former defense officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss policy deliberations has said that Mattis ‘pressed for more covert actions to capture or kill Iranian operatives, especially after the foiled 2011 plot by Iran to kill the Saudi ambassador at a Washington restaurant.’

According to the Washington Post, 'Middle East experts said the Obama administration’s efforts to avoid wading into sectarian civil war has unnerved the closest U.S. allies and emboldened Iran.'

“A vacuum was created that Iran exploited,” Martin Indyk, executive vice president of the Brookings Institution and Obama’s former Middle East envoy, wrote in an e-mail. “Now we have to make a choice. Not taking a stand in Syria was the original mistake that helped to open the gates of hell.”

Iran will not give up nuclear bomb: Maryam Rajavi

In an interview with a German daily Mrs Maryam Rajavi , the president-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran ( NCRI ) warned that mullahs in Tehran will not give up the nuclear bomb. She also warned against the Iranian regime’s increasing interference in the neighboring Iraq.


“The mullahs’ regime has never been a reliable negotiating partner and it cannot be one. This is a proven fact. We have been witnessing 30 years of concealment and deception. The Iranian Resistance divulged a secret nuclear site just in the midst of the recent talks. I think this regime will never give up its nuclear program, voluntarily,” she said in the interview published on March 6 in West Dutche Allgemeine Zeitung.
“Given the present policy of the West, especially the US, they will never forget about the nuclear bomb. They have been continuing their project to this very day, because they feel the price they pay for not abiding by international laws is much too small. This regime must be compelled through international pressure and sanctions to fully implement the UN Security Council resolutions, fully halt its enrichment activities, and accept intrusive inspections.”
On the growing interference by the Iranian regime in Iraq, Mrs Rajavi said: “Unfortunately, as a result of the wrong policy of the US and the West, the hegemony in Iraq has fallen into the hands of the Iranian regime step by step since 2003. With the fall of Nouri Al-Maliki this influence was undermined to a great extent, but the only solution for Iraq and the first step in any attempt to solve the problem of Islamic fundamentalism is the eviction of Iran’s regime from Iraq.”
“The militias are fully under the control and command of the Iranian regime. They have an extremely destructive role. Under the name of fighting ISIS, they have carried out the genocide of the Sunni populace. This is a crime against humanity and fuels the Shiite-Sunni sectarian war for years to come.

Iran news in brief, 27 March 2015

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Argentine Foreign Minister Says Nisman Accusations Are “Made Up”

GUATEMALA CITY – Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said that accusations of a cover-up leveled by deceased Prosecutor Nisman against President Cristina Fernandez are all “made up,” after an Argentine court ratified dismissal of the case.

Timerman spoke on Thursday during a visit to Guatemala.

The case against Fernandez filed by Nisman alleged her involvement in a cover-up of links between Iran and terrorists responsible for a 1994 attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association building which left 85 dead.

Nisman was found dead in his home, under circumstances still not clear, four days after filing the case and on the eve of an appearance before Congress to outline his case, which also implicated Timerman in the cover-up.

“There is nothing of the kind denounced by Nisman, all that is said is totally false. All the dialogues attributed to me do not exist; the meetings that they say happened, never happened,” said Timerman.

He insisted that the Argentine government wants to resolve the bombing case, the country’s worst terrorist attac