Iran Nuclear Negotiations Continue over Debate on Sanctions Relief

Negotiations are continuing in Vienna today after P5+1 and Iranian diplomats issued another extension of talks as they try to reach a comprehensive agreement to curtail Iran’s nuclear program. Talks are now expected to continue through July 10. Some U.S. officials are reportedly considering a further extension of the talks, along with the Joint Plan of Action terms that keep Iran’s nuclear program frozen, in order to avoid Iran using a deadline based on the U.S. Congress to its advantage, but diplomats are also concerned about more political opposition building if negotiations continue. While the lifting of sanctions has been a consistent sticking point in the discussions, negotiators say they’ve run into new difficulties over Iran’s demand that an arms embargo that was folded into U.N. sanctions measures be lifted.

In a rare interview, former Iranian President Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani praised the negotiations. “That Iran is talking directly to the U.S. is a good move. We have broken a taboo,” he told The Guardian. “Iran is dead serious. If the other parties are as serious we will have an agreement for sure.”

Iraq Sentences Militants for Massacre of Soldiers in Tikrit

An Iraqi court has sentenced 24 Islamic State-affiliated militants to death by hanging for the “Speicher massacre” of hundreds of soldiers fleeing Tikrit after the city was captured last summer. Four other suspected militants were acquitted for lack of evidence.

Headlines

• The Islamic State claimed credit for a car bombing near a hospital yesterday in Sanaa, Yemen; a second car bomb killed approximately 10 people to the south in Bayda.

• In a statement critical of the state of emergency declared in Tunisia, Human Rights Watch warned that the government’s measures could “gut basic rights and freedoms.”

• U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter stated that the United States is currently only training 60 Syrian rebels in its train-and-equip program during a heated exchange with the Senate Armed Services Committee.

• The U.S. Congress is considering legislation to improve military relations with Jordan; the House passed and the Senate will consider a bill to allow expedited military sales and assistance generally reserved for NATO member states.

• Hamas accused the Palestinian Authority of arresting and torturing 200 members of Hamas in the West Bank, illustrating strains on the parties’ efforts at reconciliation.

Arguments and Analysis

“Why Yemen’s peace talks failed” (Stephen W. Day, The Monkey Cage)

“Today, it is difficult to imagine Yemen being restored as a single nation-state. There is no center of gravity, and among multiple local authorities, no one firmly controls more than a quarter of the country. It is past time for world leaders to deal realistically with Yemen’s problems. Denial of its regional divisions and ignoring the need to decentralize powers of political and economic decision making outside the traditional Zaydi region around Sanaa, will perpetuate armed conflict for years to come. Although today’s priorities must be to stop the war and send emergency humanitarian assistance to the population, Saleh, Houthi and other elites in Sanaa should never again be allowed to monopolize political and economic control of the country.”

“ISIS and the Hollywood Visual Style” (Cori E. Dauber and Mark Robinson, Jihadology)

“Our point here is this: there are a range of compositional elements that contribute to whether or not videos will look professional, whether they appear to have that “Hollywood visual style.” Other groups are certainly closing the gap with ISIS here, but ISIS’ visual materials aren’t just “slick” or “sophisticated.” They are making very specific choices that contribute to a very specific visual style. And while most consumers of Western media might not be able to discuss, for example, the virtues of a shallow vs. a deep visual field, they do know what it is they have become accustomed to, and they would most certainly notice it if they were watching media that failed to meet the standards they were accustomed to. By producing video products that largely meet industry standards ISIS is doing something no terrorist group we know of has ever done before.”

-J. Dana Stuster

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