Kerry and Zarif Meet on Sidelines of U.N. Nuclear Summit

Secretary of State John Kerry met with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif yesterday at the residence of the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations. Their talks, which took place on the sidelines of a U.N. nonproliferation summit, come as the Obama Administration makes a new push to promote the nuclear negotiations with Iran and as Congress considers legislation to increase its role and impose conditions on a final deal. Kerry and Zarif did not take questions afterwards, but Kerry did stress the importance of a potential deal beforehand, saying that “the hard work is far from over and some key issues remain unresolved…if we can get there, the entire world will be safer.” Top U.S. diplomats, including lead negotiator Wendy Sherman and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz, met with journalists and other groups to explain the progress of negotiations.

Before meeting with Kerry, Zarif addressed the Non-Alignment Movement bloc of nations at the United Nations, calling for their support in urging Israel to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty and establishing a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East. Israel is participating in the U.N. nuclear summit as an observer for the first time in two decades. Also during the summit, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano said that he was concerned about the IAEA’s stalled investigation into the possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear weapons program, but said that if an agreement is reached, he hopes “we would be able to accelerate the clarification.”

Blockade Exacerbating Food Crisis in Yemen

Kerry and Zarif were also expected to discuss the situation in Yemen. “Yemen’s future should be decided by Yemenis,” Kerry said before the meeting, “not by external parties and proxies.” Iranian rhetoric about the Saudi intervention has grown unusually heated in the past week. The conflict remains stagnated and the Saudi blockade of Yemeni ports has created a backlog of shipments of food waiting to be delivered to contested port cities, exacerbating the humanitarian crisis in the country. The cost of a bag of flour has nearly doubled since the start of fighting, according to a shopkeeper in Sanaa.

Headlines

• Five Libyan journalists, who had been missing since last August, were found dead near the city of Bayda and are believed to have been killed by Islamic State militants.

• The U.N. envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, briefed the Security Council yesterday on his plans to coordinate meetings with the Assad regime, rebel groups, and regional governments including Iran to assess the chances for a negotiated end to the war.

• Between 3,800 and 4,700 Yemenis are currently stranded in Egypt despite efforts to return home to Yemen.

• The United Nations will discuss today the findings of an inquiry into the 2014 Gaza war between Israel and Hamas; the report found that Israeli strikes hit U.N. schools that were designated as emergency shelters, resulting in high civilian casualties.

• Foreign ministers for the Gulf Cooperation Council will meet to coordinate their positions before traveling to Camp David for a summit with President Obama in May.

-J. Dana Stuster

Jason DeCrow-Pool/Getty Images