After many months of principled diplomacy, the P5+1 — the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany — along with the European Union, have achieved a long-term comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran that will verifiably prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and ensure that Iran‘s nuclear program will be exclusively peaceful going forward.

Russia welcomes the agreement reached today in Vienna on a settlement of the situation concerning Iran’s nuclear programme and the joint comprehensive plan of action approved by the six countries and Iran. We are certain that the world heaved a sigh of relief today. The negotiations supported by the UN Security Council and involving Russia, China, the USA, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iran and the European Union went on for many years. We are satisfied that the solution found is based on the principle of phasing and mutuality which our country has been consistently supporting at every stage of these complicated negotiations.

Der iranische Präsident Hassan Rohani sagte über die Einigung mit dem Westen: Heute hat eine neue Seite in der Geschichte und der Revolution blättert und Die Verhandlungen hätten gezeigt, dass sich Probleme dieser Welt ohne unverhältnismäßige Kosten und in einem erträglichen Zeitrahmen lösen ließen.
„Diese Verhandlungen konnten nie mit einer Sieger-Verlierer-Lösung enden. Wir wollten, dass alle Seiten als Sieger dastehen“, sagte der iranische Präsident Hassan Rohani in Teheran.

Diplomats said Tuesday that a landmark agreement was reached on Iran’s nuclear programme on the 18th day of marathon talks in Vienna, with EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini calling the deal “a sign of hope for the entire world”.

After 17 days of negotiations in Vienna, a landmark deal to curb Iran‘s nuclear programme in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions is announced on Tuesday by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iran‘s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The deal may herald a new era in relations between Tehran and the west

Man tut wahrscheinlich gut daran, am Tag der Einigung auf den neuen „Gemeinsamen Aktionsplan“ zwischen dem Iran und den internationalen Verhandlern, an den eigentlichen Zweck des nun erreichten Atomdeals zu erinnern: Er soll möglichst sicherstellen, dass das iranische Atomprogramm in den nächsten Jahren nicht den militärischen Weg, Richtung Atomwaffen, einschlägt. Und das ist – auch nach Angaben von Experten, die nicht mit dem Iran sympathisieren – gelungen.

Das Eidg. Departement für auswärtige Angelegenheiten teilte mit, die Schweiz sehe sich bestärkt in ihrem Grundsatz der friedlichen Konfliktlösung.

„This deal offers an opportunity to move in a new direction,“ Obama said. „We should seize it.“

Under the deal, sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union and United Nations will be lifted in return for Iran agreeing long-term curbs on a nuclear program that the West has suspected was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb.

Der Atomkonflikt mit dem Iran ist nach 13 Jahren offiziell beendet.

The spoke will soon be put in wheel of the Iranian bomb, and it will be ripped from the headlines and from our consciousness for at least the next dozen years or even more. And for Bibi, what will happen now?

(9.Juli) Jimmy Carter has written a new book, called A Full Life. The Israel Palestine issue is coming up of course in press coverage, with the usual talk about Carter’s title for his 2006 book, Palestine Peace Not Apartheid. Carter has defended his use of the term by pointing out that Palestinians have no rights. And press coverage has been surprisingly favorable to Carter.

Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times today tries, a little bit anyway, to remove the smear of Carter:

(2.Juli) Michael Oren’s new book about his years as Israel’s ambassador to the United States will — accidentally for him — turn out to be a big boost to the nonviolent movement for justice in Israel/Palestine. I have read every word, and I hope it reaches the best-seller lists and stays there, as an inadvertent but accurate account of how Israel’s power elite truly thinks and acts. The book is an extraordinarily revealing look into the highest echelons of the Israeli government, and Oren’s own animosities have prompted him to tell more than he may have intended.

(5.Juli) Rightwing pro-Israel pollster Frank Luntz sounds the alarm with a survey of elite US opinion saying that 3/4 of American Democratic elites regard Israel as having too much influence, and half of them say Israel is racist. Just what we’ve been saying: criticism of Israel is gaining traction in the Democratic base and is sure to play a role in next year’s election campaigns. Hillary Clinton is surely freaking over these numbers; what’s a presidential candidate to do, will this become a tsunami.

„That means this deal is not built on trust; it is built on verification,“ Obama said.

(…)

Well over a decade of negotiations on Iran’s civilian nuclear program have finally reached a conclusion, with the Islamic Republic and its latest interlocutors, the P5+1, sealing an agreement.

The hitherto elusive agreement was finally nailed down on Tuesday in the ritzy Palais Coburg Hotel in the Austrian capital of Vienna, where negotiators from Iran and the six other countries had recently been spending over two weeks to work out the remaining technical and political issues.

(…)

The agreement on Iran envisages lifting of EU sanctions on banking operations, insurance and SWIFT payment system, said the draft document, RIA Novosti reported.

the Western diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing confidential talks, signaled that all of the main outstanding issues had been resolved, including the thorny question of how many years an embargo on conventional arms shipments into and out of Iran would remain in place.

Die EU-Außenbeauftragte Federica Mogherini hat die Einigung mit dem Iran über ein Ende des jahrelangen Atomstreits bestätigt. Dies sei ein Zeichen der Hoffnung für die ganze Welt, sagte Mogherini am Dienstag unmittelbar vor der förmlichen Verabschiedung des Abkommens durch die beteiligten Staaten

(…)

Foreign ministers of China, France, Germany, Iran, Russia, the UK and the US are due to hold a plenary session over Iran‘s nuclear programme in Vienna on Tuesday, July 14.
Talks restarted in Vienna last week to try to reach a final agreement on the nuclear deal in the hope of ending a decade-long standoff between the West and Iran.

(…)

Five months of intense negotiations between Greece and the Eurogroup never had a chance of success. Condemned to lead to impasse, their purpose was to pave the ground for what Dr Schäuble had decided was ‘optimal’ well before our government was even elected: That Greece should be eased out of the Eurozone in order to discipline member-states resisting his very specific plan for re-structuring the Eurozone.

– This is no theory.
– How do I know Grexit is an important part of Dr Schäuble’s plan for Europe?
– Because he told me so!

HL: What was it like? Did you like any aspect of it?

YV: Oh well a lot of it. But the inside information one gets… to have your worst fears confirmed … To have “the powers that be” speak to you directly, and it be as you feared – the situation was worse than you imagined! So that was fun, to have the front row seat.

HL: What are you referring to?

YV: The complete lack of any democratic scruples, on behalf of the supposed defenders of Europe’s democracy. The quite clear understanding on the other side that we are on the same page analytically – of course it will never come out at present. [And yet] To have very powerful figures look at you in the eye and say “You’re right in what you’re saying, but we’re going to crunch you anyway.”

via @rponline

meeting of the Syriza parliamentary group on Tuesday morning could see Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis and Deputy Labor Minister Dimistris Stratoulis sacked over their opposition to the bailout.

There may also be a battle over parliament speaker Zoe Constantinopoulou, an uncompromising leftwinger who also defied Tsipras over the bailout and who could create serious procedural obstacles for the package.

‚New vision for Europe‘ needed says Italy PM

„Lassen wir uns annehmen, Sie halten Tsipras für unfähig. Lassen wir uns annehmen, dass Sie die SYRIZA die Macht verlieren sehen wollen. Lassen wir uns auch annehmen, dass Sie eine Entwicklung wie die des Ausschlusses der lästigen Griechen aus dem Euro begrüßen. Selbst wenn all dieses zutrifft, ist diese Liste der Eurogruppe ein WAHNSINN. Der Hashtag „ThisIsACoup“ (dies ist ein Putsch) ist korrekt. Dies überschreitet die Grenzen der Strenge und es wird die Rachsucht, die vollständige Vernichtung der nationalen Souveränität und mit keinerlei Hoffnung auf eine Linderung klar.“

Medienberichten zufolge hat EU-Kommissionspräsident Jean-Claude Juncker allerdings vorgeschlagen, den EFSM als zusätzliche Sicherheit für kurzfristige Kredite für Griechenland wiederzubeleben. An dem EFSM sind auch die Briten beteiligt. Die Überbrückungshilfe ist nötig, weil Griechenland allein an die EZB noch 3,5 Milliarden Euro zurückzahlen muss.