The United States and Iran trade blame for failed nuclear deal

The United States and Iran traded blame on Monday over responsibility for the failure of the latest round of talks on Iran’s nuclear development program. While some reports faulted France for pushing for tight restriction on a heavy-water reactor being constructed in Arak, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Iran was not able to accept the deal "at that particular moment." Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif rejected Kerry’s comments, claiming that delays were predominantly caused by divisions between the six world powers involved in negotiating with Iran — the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany. Zarif claimed France "gutted over half" of the U.S. draft proposal on Thursday night. Despite the exchange of accusations, both Kerry and Zarif insisted they were nearing a deal. Zarif said the "outlines and framework" of a deal could be negotiated within a year. However, he asserted that blaming Iran would only serve to undermine confidence, continuing, "The main point is that the West side should build up the trust of the Iranian nation."

Syria

The Western-backed opposition Syrian National Coalition named nine ministers for an interim government in rebel-held territory in Syria Tuesday. While the coalition noted the cabinet was unlikely to gain international recognition, some western countries said they would be willing to use it as a channel for humanitarian aid, and France and Britain said forming the cabinet was an important step. However, the United States appears to have reservations. According to an opposition official, "The United States is against the provisional government because it thinks it will undermine the Geneva talks." The coalition noted that even if the sides convene the proposed peace conference, "it will be a long process and we cannot continue to leave the liberated areas prey to chaos in the meantime." The interim government will likely operate from the Turkish city of Gaziantep, along the border north of Aleppo, rather than from within Syria as security concerns persist. Meanwhile, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported clashes between government troops, backed by Hezbollah and Iraqi fighters, and opposition forces in the southern Damascus suburb of Hejeira. Syrian forces have made gains recently overtaking at least four rebel strongholds in Aleppo, as well as areas south of Damascus. Additionally, a cease-fire deal was reportedly struck on Tuesday in the Palestinian neighborhood of Yarmouk, although there were some reports of continued fighting.

Headlines

• Gunmen reportedly killed pro-Hezbollah Sunni Sheikh Saadeddine Ghiyyeh in a drive-by shooting in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli Tuesday.
• Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman urged an easing of tensions with the United States over Iran upon his return to the cabinet after being cleared of corruption charges.
• A Yemeni court has convicted nine men on charges of smuggling Iranian-made weapons.
• A Thomson Reuters Foundation poll has found Egypt to be the worst country in the Arab world for women’s rights.

Arguments and Analysis

‘Revolutionary Pragmatists: Why Iran’s Military Won’t Spoil Détente with the U.S.‘ (Akbar Ganji, Foreign Affairs)

"Although the Guards were founded as an ideological organization, they have become vastly more pragmatic as they’ve acquired more power in the Iranian establishment. The Revolutionary Guards are no longer simply a military institution. They are among the country’s most important economic actors, controlling an estimated ten percent of the economy, directly and through various subsidiaries. And those economic interests increasingly trump other concerns. And, although the force can corner a greater share of the domestic market under the sanctions regime imposed by the United States because the private sector has a chronic shortage of funds, many Guardsmen are aware that they stand to gain much more if Iran strengthens its ties to the rest of the world. Companies controlled by the Guards would likely win a lion’s share of new foreign investment. But that would require, of course, reaching some sort of accommodation with the United States on the nuclear program.

The Guards have also always shown signs of pragmatism when it comes to military strategy. They are aware that if talks between Tehran and Washington break down, the United States could begin to seriously consider a military intervention. Few leading Guardsmen are eager for that; unlike the clerical establishment that preaches resistance to the West, the Guards are very capable of calculating the material and strategic costs of escalation. On June 3, Brigadier General Hossein Alaei, a veteran of the Iran-Iraq War and a highly respected IRGC commander, declared in a public speech that war in the region has only ever resulted in ‘increased killing of the Muslim people, particularly the Shiites.’"

‘A Doable Iran Deal‘ (Roger Cohen, The New York Times)

"The spin masters are out trying to portray the failure of Iran talks in Geneva this way or that. It was the French who abruptly got tough. No, it was Iran’s insistence that its right to enrich uranium be acknowledged. No, it was just the formidable difficulty of a negotiation between mistrustful adversaries.

In this mess, with its bitter aftertaste, it is worth returning to basics. First, President Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, and Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, represent the most serious, credible, moderate and capable negotiators the Islamic Republic is ever likely to produce. There will not be a better opportunity with any other conceivable team within a useful time frame.

Second, according to people who have spent many hours with them, Rouhani and Zarif are prepared to limit enrichment to 3.5 percent (well short of weapons grade);
curtail the number of centrifuges and facilities and place them under enhanced international monitoring; deal with Iran’s 20 percent enriched stockpile by converting it under international supervision into fuel pads for the Tehran research reactor; and find a solution on the heavy-water plant it is building at Arak that could produce plutonium. In return, as these steps are progressively taken, they want sanctions relief and recognition of the right to enrichment."

–Mary Casey & Joshua Haber