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IRAN

Kerry’s exit throws Iran talks into uncertainty

Negotiations between world powers and Iran over Tehran's nuclear ambitions were thrown into uncertainty Saturday after US Secretary of State John Kerry announced his imminent departure and Iran's chief negotiator expressed doubts a deal would be reached.

Kerry's exit throws Iran talks into uncertainty
US Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in Geneva. Photo: Denis Balibouse/Pool/AFP

Amid signs that the talks in Geneva were proving difficult, Kerry's spokesman said the US's top diplomat would leave for London on Sunday for meetings with British counterpart William Hague and the Libyan prime minister.
   
At the same time, Iranian chief negotiator Abbas Araqchi said he doubted that Tehran and the P5+1 world powers — comprising the United States, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany — could reach an accord by the end of the day.
   
"Intense and difficult negotiations are under way and it is not clear whether we reach an agreement tonight," Fars news agency quoted Araqchi as saying.

"The dispute is over the wording."
   
The talks are aimed at securing a freeze on parts of Iran's nuclear programme in order to ease fears that Tehran will develop atomic weapons, in return for modest sanctions relief.
   
The arrival of foreign ministers including Kerry on Saturday had raised hopes, after three days of intense negotiations among lower-level officials, that a breakthrough was in sight.
   
Kerry had decided to join the talks "with the hope that an agreement will be reached," the State Department said on Friday.
   
Since their arrival however, officials from both sides have indicated that there are still considerable differences to be bridged.
   
"We have now entered a very difficult stage," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told state television, saying he would not bow to "excessive demands".
   
"In any agreement, (uranium) enrichment in Iran will not be suspended," Zarif said, adding that "a very difficult task" still lay ahead in clinching a deal.
   
Hague was also cautious on Saturday morning.

"They remain very difficult negotiations," he said in Geneva.

"I think it is important to stress that we are not here because things are necessarily finished."
   
"It's not a done deal," said his German counterpart Guido Westerwelle.

"We think there's a realistic chance but there is still a lot of work to do."
   
Mark Hibbs from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Kerry's imminent departure might "set a deadline and focus people's minds".
   
Just two weeks ago, the ministers had jetted in seeking to sign on the dotted line, only to fail as cracks appeared among the powers — fissures that officials say are now repaired.
   
Since being elected in June, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has raised big hopes that after a decade of rising tensions over Tehran's nuclear programme, a solution might be within reach.

Devil in the detail
   
Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful but many in the international community suspect it is aimed at acquiring atomic weapons.
   
The six powers want Iran to stop spinning, for six months initially, some 700 of its some 19,000 thousand centrifuges that are enriching uranium to levels close to weapons-grade.
   
They also want Tehran to stop constructing a new reactor at Arak and to grant the International Atomic Energy Agency more intrusive inspection rights.
   
In return they are offering Iran minor and reversible relief from painful sanctions including unlocking several billion dollars in oil revenues and easing some trade restrictions.
   
Ministers in Geneva are seeking to obtain a "first phase" deal which would build trust and ease tensions while negotiators push on for a final accord that ends once and for all fears that Tehran will acquire an atomic bomb.
   
A major sticking point has been Iran's demand —  as expressed by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this week —  for recognition of its "right" to enrich uranium.
   

The risks posed by failure are high: Tehran could resume the expansion of its nuclear activities, leading to more painful sanctions and even Israeli and possibly US military action.
   
A hard sell
   
Getting an agreement palatable to hardliners both in the United States and in the Islamic republic — as well as Israel — is tough.
   
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu wants all of Iran's nuclear infrastructure dismantled, not just parts of it frozen, believing that the P5+1 will leave Iran with an ability to develop nuclear weapons.
   
In Washington there is a push by lawmakers to ignore President Barack Obama's pleas and pass yet more sanctions on Iran if there is no deal —  or one seen as too soft.
   
Rouhani, meanwhile, is under pressure to show Khamenei the first fruits of his "charm offensive", and it is unclear whether the sanctions relief on offer is enough.

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TRIAL

Danish terror trial begins against Iranian separatists

Three leaders of an Iranian Arab separatist group pleaded not guilty to financing and promoting terrorism in Iran with Saudi Arabia's backing, as their trial opened in Denmark on Thursday.

Danish terror trial begins against Iranian separatists
File photo: Mads Claus Rasmussen/Ritzau Scanpix

The three risk 12 years in prison if found guilty.

Aged 39 to 50, the trio are members of the separatist organisation ASMLA (Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of Ahvaz), which is based in Denmark and the Netherlands and which Iran considers a terrorist group.

The three, one of whom is a Danish citizen, have been held in custody in Denmark since February 2020.

Gert Dyrn, lawyer for the eldest of the three, told AFP that in his client’s opinion “what they are charged with is legitimate resistance towards an oppressive regime.”

“They are not denying receiving money from multiple sources, including Saudi Arabia, to help the movement and help them accomplish their political aim,” Dyrn said. 

His client has lived as a refugee in Denmark since 2006. 

According to the charge sheet seen by AFP, the three received around 30 million kroner (four million euros, $4.9 million) for ASMLA and its armed branch, through bank accounts in Austria and the United Arab Emirates.

The trio is also accused of spying on people and organisations in Denmark between 2012 and 2020 for Saudi intelligence.

Finally, they are also accused of promoting terrorism and “encouraging the activities of the terrorist movement Jaish Al-Adl, which has activities in Iran, by supporting them with advice, promotion, and coordinating attacks.”

The case dates back to 2018 when one of the three was the target of a foiled attack on Danish soil believed to be sponsored by the Iranian regime in retaliation for the killing of 24 people in Ahvaz, southwestern Iran, in September 2018.

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Tehran formally denied the attack plan in Denmark, but a Danish court last year jailed a Norwegian-Iranian for seven years for his role in the plot. 

That attack put Danish authorities on the trail of the trio’s ASMLA activities.

Sunni Saudi Arabia is the main rival in the Middle East of Shia Iran, and Tehran regularly accuses it, along with Israel and the United States, of supporting separatist groups.

Lawyer Gert Dyrn said this was “the first case in Denmark within terror law where you have to consider who is a terrorist and who is a freedom fighter.”

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