Secretary of State John F. Kerry arrived in Geneva Friday in hopes of completing an international deal that would give Iran limited relief from economic sanctions in exchange for a temporary freeze of some of its nuclear activities.
Kerry, who has been traveling in the Middle East for the past week, is supposed to hold a trilateral meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to “help narrow the differences,” said Kerry spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
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Psaki said Ashton had asked Kerry to come.
A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity about the fast-moving events, said that Kerry has been open to joining the Geneva talks since they began last month, if those involved thought that his presence would be helpful.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also plans to travel to Geneva, according to official sources quoted by Agence France Presse. Other nations involved in the talks have not yet indicated whether their foreign ministers will attend for the announcement of the phased plan, which would include the most significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear facilities in nearly a decade.
An agreement, which U.S. officials described as a “first step” in a comprehensive pact restricting Tehran’s ability to seek atomic weapons, could herald a significant shift in U.S.-Iranian relations after years of enmity.
In the midst of a round of shuttle diplomacy between Israel and the Palestinians, Kerry spent Thursday night in Amman, Jordan, where he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. En route to Geneva Friday morning, he stopped at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv for a third meeting in as many days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday, Netanyahu blasted the U.S.-backed proposal as “a monumental mistake.”
“There’s no earthly reason to do this,” he said. “Not only the force of the existing sanctions but the threat of the future sanctions was the great impetus on the mind of Khamenei, and now they could just take that away.” He was referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, who holds ultimate political and religious authority in the country.
Speaking to reporters Friday morning before his meeting with Kerry, Netanyahu said he understood “the Iranians are walking around very satisfied in Geneva, as well they should be, because they got everything and paid nothing. Everything they wanted. They wanted relief of sanctions after years of a grueling sanctions regime. They got that. They are paying nothing because they are not reducing in any way their nuclear enrichment capability .
Kerry, who has been traveling in the Middle East for the past week, is supposed to hold a trilateral meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to “help narrow the differences,” said Kerry spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
Mount Sinabung erupts, Soyuz launch, Prince Charles and Camilla in India, Jordan River baptism and more.
Psaki said Ashton had asked Kerry to come.
A senior State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity about the fast-moving events, said that Kerry has been open to joining the Geneva talks since they began last month, if those involved thought that his presence would be helpful.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also plans to travel to Geneva, according to official sources quoted by Agence France Presse. Other nations involved in the talks have not yet indicated whether their foreign ministers will attend for the announcement of the phased plan, which would include the most significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear facilities in nearly a decade.
An agreement, which U.S. officials described as a “first step” in a comprehensive pact restricting Tehran’s ability to seek atomic weapons, could herald a significant shift in U.S.-Iranian relations after years of enmity.
In the midst of a round of shuttle diplomacy between Israel and the Palestinians, Kerry spent Thursday night in Amman, Jordan, where he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. En route to Geneva Friday morning, he stopped at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv for a third meeting in as many days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
In an interview with The Washington Post on Thursday, Netanyahu blasted the U.S.-backed proposal as “a monumental mistake.”
“There’s no earthly reason to do this,” he said. “Not only the force of the existing sanctions but the threat of the future sanctions was the great impetus on the mind of Khamenei, and now they could just take that away.” He was referring to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, who holds ultimate political and religious authority in the country.
Speaking to reporters Friday morning before his meeting with Kerry, Netanyahu said he understood “the Iranians are walking around very satisfied in Geneva, as well they should be, because they got everything and paid nothing. Everything they wanted. They wanted relief of sanctions after years of a grueling sanctions regime. They got that. They are paying nothing because they are not reducing in any way their nuclear enrichment capability .