LATEST: Pentagon Dials Down Assessment of Iranian Ballistic Missiles
UPDATE 1015 GMT: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will not join his colleagues from the 5+1 Powers in talks in Vienna on Sunday on a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran.
Russia’s Permanent Representative in Vienna, Vladimir Voronkov, said he would represent Moscow as “Lavrov is accompanying Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in his visits to Latin American states”.
A series of announcements on Thursday confirmed that Foreign Ministers from the 5+1 Powers will join their Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, in crucial nuclear talks in Vienna this weekend.
Michael Mann, the spokesman for the European Union’s foreign policy head and lead 5+1 negotiator Catherine Ashton, said via Twitter:
Technical talks/drafting work to continue Friday between E3/EU+3 and Iran. Ashton invited FMs for stocktake on Sunday #IranTalksVienna
— Michael Mann (@EUHighRepSpox) July 10, 2014
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement:
Secretary (of State John) Kerry will travel to Vienna, Austria this weekend for consultations with EU High Representative Ashton; Foreign Ministers from other P5+1 countries, as schedules permit; and Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif.
The Secretary will gauge the extent of Iran’s willingness to commit to credible and verifiable steps that would back up its public statements about the peaceful nature of its nuclear program. The Secretary will see if progress can be made on the issues where significant gaps remain and assess Iran’s willingness to make a set of critical choices at the negotiating table. The Secretary will then make recommendations to the President about next steps in the negotiations.
A “French diplomatic source” told AFP that French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius will arrive in Vienna on Sunday to “evaluate the situation” in the talks.
The discussions are seeking a comprehensive nuclear agreement by July 20, when an interim agreement expires.
Zarif said on Wednesday that about 50% of the general draft for a settlement has been completed, although “significant differences” remain in key areas.
Points to be resolved including the number and level of Iran’s centrifuges for uranium enrichment, the status of Tehran’s nuclear facilities, and the lifting of US-led sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
Pentagon Dials Down Assessment of Iranian Ballistic Missiles
The US Defense Department has pulled back from a long-standing assessment that Iran could flight-test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the United States by 2015.
An unclassified executive summary of the Annual Report on Military Power of Iran, dated January 2014, does not offer an assessment of the technical feasibility of Iran’s potential to demonstrate an ICBM — a fixture of previous reports since 1999.
Instead, the two-page executive summary states: “Iran has publicly stated it may launch a space launch vehicle by 2015 that could be capable of intercontinental ballistic missile ranges if configured as a ballistic missile.”
Analyst Greg Thielmann, a former senior State Department official, explains, “(This is) a significant change of language, meaning that the U.S. intelligence community is losing confidence in their earlier prediction of 2015 which has been very heavily quoted, of course, by friends of missile defense and others wishing to pump up the Iranian threat.”
82 Journalists Protest Detention of Colleague Mirdamadi
Eighty-two Iranian journalists have put out a statement condemning the detention of Serajeddin Mirdamadi, in custody since May 10.
Mirdamadi has been under pressure since June 2013, when his passport was confiscated as he returned to Iran from Paris. In November, he was indicted for “actions against national security” and “assembly and collusion.”
Mirdamadi was summoned for interrogation in May. His lawyer said his first court session will be in early August.
The journalists write that the continued detention is a “violation of the promises” made by President Rohani, who promised the release of political prisoners and easing of restrictions on media during his campaign.
In recent weeks, authorities have detained prominent journalists and summoned others to serve prison sentences.
Cartoon: How US, Britain, & Israel “Manufacture an Islamic State Takfiri Terrorist”
A cartoon in Fars, the outlet of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, explains that the US, Britain, and Israeli are “manufacturing” the fighters of the Islamic State for their “terrorism” in Iraq and Syria:
Hardline Media: Women’s Entry Into Sports Stadiums Is Part of Enemy’s Effort to Undermine Iran
An editorial in the hardline daily Kayhan says that one of the “seven battlefronts of the enemy” is “the enemies’ agenda regarding the role of women in Iranian society”.
Among the enemy’s pernicious propaganda is the portrayal of housekeeping as “a shameful duty” and of hijab (headscarf) preventing women from achieving their goals”. However, a “priority” is “female entry into sports stadiums”.
Iranian women have campaigned this summer to be allowed to watch international competitions in football and volleyball. After some were detained and female journalists were expelled from an international volleyball match last month, President Rouhani’s advisor for women’s affairs said enquiries were being made of the Sports Minister.
