Fresh Iran nuclear talks in push to seal US return
World
April 3, 2021
BRUSSELS: World powers and Iran agreed on Friday to meet for talks next week in Vienna on the nuclear deal with Tehran, with mediators to hold separate contacts with the US, the European Union said.
The announcement came after a video conference of participants in the 2015 accord including China, France, Germany, Russia, and Britain as they look to bring Washington back on board following former leader Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw.
Officials will meet in-person in the Austrian capital to clearly identify sanctions lifting and nuclear implementation measures, including through convening meetings of the relevant expert groups , a statement from the European Union, which coordinates the deal, said.
DEBKAfile
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Beijing is preparing to transfer 5,000 Chinese troops to Iran to guard its $400bn investment in the country over the next 25 years. Military engineers are prospecting sites for their bases. This deployment was covered in the investment-cum-strategic accord signed in Tehran on March 27 by visiting Chinese FM Wang Yi and his Iranian counterpart Mohammed Javad Zarif.
Gulf and the Western intelligence sources report that this substantial Chinese military presence in Iran, the first in the Gulf region, will mark out the formation of a strategic axis linking China, Iran and Pakistan, two of which are nuclear powers. It will add another section to the the CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor] project underway in Pakistan, as part of Beijing’s $8 trillion Border and Road Initiative (BRI) projects for spanning Asia and Europe. The CPEC is to provide a safe passage and a shorter route for Iranian oil, gas and petrochemicals, sold at cut-rate prices, to reach China.
Pakistan Seen As Repeating ‘Pyrrhic Victory’ In Afghanistan
April 01, 2021
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Pakistani leaders have spent decades touting their role in shaping the various phases of war in Afghanistan that saw Islamabad gain influence in Afghan politics despite its often-acrimonious relationship with Kabul.
Leaders in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, home to Pakistan’s powerful military, once again see themselves on the cusp of a historic opportunity to shape Afghanistan’s future and fend off threats from ethno-nationalists and the influence of regional archrival India.
But observers say the prospect of Pakistan’s Taliban allies assuming power or becoming major powerbrokers is likely to be a hollow victory for Islamabad reminiscent of the 1990s, when a civil war followed the April 1992 demise of Afghanistan’s socialist government. The ensuing chaos forced millions of Afghans to seek shelter in Pakistan, which faced international isolation in a post-Cold War world defined
World
March 16, 2021
BRUSSELS: Iran’s foreign minister said on Monday that now was the time for the United States to decide if it will compromise to break the deadlock to revive the nuclear deal with Tehran. Europeans are used to compromise. Iran and the United States are not. The Americans are used to imposing, and we are used to resisting, Mohammed Javad Zarif said during a videoconference with the Brussels-based European Policy Centre think tank. So now is the time to decide. Will we both compromise and go back to the JCPOA? Or will we go back to our own paths? he said, using the initials for the 2015 accord between Iran and world powers. The deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, has been hanging by a thread since former US president Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018 and reimposed punishing sanctions on Tehran.
TEHRAN: Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday urged Europe to avoid threats or pressure in any negotiations with Tehran, as he received Ireland’s foreign minister amid diplomatic.