BREAKING NEWS: Agreement Reached With Iran!

Fact Sheet: First Step Understandings Regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Nuclear Program

The P5+1 (the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China, facilitated by the European Union) has been engaged in serious and substantive negotiations with Iran with the goal of reaching a verifiable diplomatic resolution that would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

President Obama has been clear that achieving a peaceful resolution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon is in America’s national security interest.  Today, the P5+1 and Iran reached a set of initial understandings that halts the progress of Iran's nuclear program and rolls it back in key respects.  These are the first meaningful limits that Iran has accepted on its nuclear program in close to a decade.  The initial, six month step includes significant limits on Iran's nuclear program and begins to address our most urgent concerns including Iran’s enrichment capabilities; its existing stockpiles of enriched uranium; the number and capabilities of its centrifuges; and its ability to produce weapons-grade plutonium using the Arak reactor.  The concessions Iran has committed to make as part of this first step will also provide us with increased transparency and intrusive monitoring of its nuclear program.  In the past, the concern has been expressed that Iran will use negotiations to buy time to advance their program.  Taken together, these first step measures will help prevent Iran from using the cover of negotiations to continue advancing its nuclear program as we seek to negotiate a long-term, comprehensive solution that addresses all of the international community's concerns.

In return, as part of this initial step, the P5+1 will provide limited, temporary, targeted, and reversible relief to Iran.  This relief is structured so that the overwhelming majority of the sanctions regime, including the key oil, banking, and financial sanctions architecture, remains in place.  The P5+1 will continue to enforce these sanctions vigorously.  If Iran fails to meet its commitments, we will revoke the limited relief and impose additional sanctions on Iran.

The P5+1 and Iran also discussed the general parameters of a comprehensive solution that would constrain Iran's nuclear program over the long term, provide verifiable assurances to the international community that Iran’s nuclear activities will be exclusively peaceful, and ensure that any attempt by Iran to pursue a nuclear weapon would be promptly detected.  The set of understandings also includes an acknowledgment by Iran that it must address all United Nations Security Council resolutions – which Iran has long claimed are illegal – as well as past and present issues with Iran’s nuclear program that have been identified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).  This would include resolution of questions concerning the possible military dimension of Iran’s nuclear program, including Iran’s activities at Parchin.  As part of a comprehensive solution, Iran must also come into full compliance with its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and its obligations to the IAEA.  With respect to the comprehensive solution, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.  Put simply, this first step expires in six months, and does not represent an acceptable end state to the United States or our P5+1 partners.

Halting the Progress of Iran’s Program and Rolling Back Key Elements

Iran has committed to halt enrichment above 5%:

·         Halt all enrichment above 5% and dismantle the technical connections required to enrich above 5%.

Iran has committed to neutralize its stockpile of near-20% uranium:

·         Dilute below 5% or convert to a form not suitable for further enrichment its entire stockpile of near-20% enriched uranium before the end of the initial phase.

Iran has committed to halt progress on its enrichment capacity:

·         Not install additional centrifuges of any type.

·         Not install or use any next-generation centrifuges to enrich uranium.

·         Leave inoperable roughly half of installed centrifuges at Natanz and three-quarters of installed centrifuges at Fordow, so they cannot be used to enrich uranium.

·         Limit its centrifuge production to those needed to replace damaged machines, so Iran cannot use the six months to stockpile centrifuges.

·         Not construct additional enrichment facilities.

Iran has committed to halt progress on the growth of its 3.5% stockpile:

·         Not increase its stockpile of 3.5% low enriched uranium, so that the amount is not greater at the end of the six months than it is at the beginning, and any newly enriched 3.5% enriched uranium is converted into oxide.

Iran has committed to no further advances of its activities at Arak and to halt progress on its plutonium track.  Iran has committed to:

·         Not commission the Arak reactor.

·         Not fuel the Arak reactor.

·         Halt the production of fuel for the Arak reactor.

·         No additional testing of fuel for the Arak reactor.

·         Not install any additional reactor components at Arak.

·         Not transfer fuel and heavy water to the reactor site.

·         Not construct a facility capable of reprocessing.  Without reprocessing, Iran cannot separate plutonium from spent fuel.

Unprecedented transparency and intrusive monitoring of Iran’s nuclear program 

Iran has committed to: 

·         Provide daily access by IAEA inspectors at Natanz and Fordow.  This daily access will permit inspectors to review surveillance camera footage to ensure comprehensive monitoring.  This access will provide even greater transparency into enrichment at these sites and shorten detection time for any non-compliance.

·         Provide IAEA access to centrifuge assembly facilities.

·         Provide IAEA access to centrifuge rotor component production and storage facilities.

·         Provide IAEA access to uranium mines and mills.

·         Provide long-sought design information for the Arak reactor.  This will provide critical insight into the reactor that has not previously been available. 

·         Provide more frequent inspector access to the Arak reactor.

·         Provide certain key data and information called for in the Additional Protocol to Iran’s IAEA Safeguards Agreement and Modified Code 3.1.

Verification Mechanism

The IAEA will be called upon to perform many of these verification steps, consistent with their ongoing inspection role in Iran.  In addition, the P5+1 and Iran have committed to establishing a Joint Commission to work with the IAEA to monitor implementation and address issues that may arise.  The Joint Commission will also work with the IAEA to facilitate resolution of past and present concerns with respect to Iran’s nuclear program, including the possible military dimension of Iran’s nuclear program and Iran’s activities at Parchin.

Limited, Temporary, Reversible Relief

In return for these steps, the P5+1 is to provide limited, temporary, targeted, and reversible relief while maintaining the vast bulk of our sanctions, including the oil, finance, and banking sanctions architecture.  If Iran fails to meet its commitments, we will revoke the relief.  Specifically the P5+1 has committed to:

·         Not impose new nuclear-related sanctions for six months, if Iran abides by its commitments under this deal, to the extent permissible within their political systems. 

·         Suspend certain sanctions on gold and precious metals, Iran’s auto sector, and Iran’s petrochemical exports, potentially providing Iran approximately $1.5 billion in revenue. 

·         License safety-related repairs and inspections inside Iran for certain Iranian airlines.

·         Allow purchases of Iranian oil to remain at their currently significantly reduced levels – levels that are 60% less than two years ago.  $4.2 billion from these sales will be allowed to be transferred in installments if, and as, Iran fulfills its commitments.

·         Allow $400 million in governmental tuition assistance to be transferred from restricted Iranian funds directly to recognized educational institutions in third countries to defray the tuition costs of Iranian students.

Humanitarian Transaction

Facilitate humanitarian transactions that are already allowed by U.S. law.  Humanitarian transactions have been explicitly exempted from sanctions by Congress so this channel will not provide Iran access to any new source of funds.  Humanitarian transactions are those related to Iran’s purchase of food, agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices; we would also facilitate transactions for medical expenses incurred abroad.  We will establish this channel for the benefit of the Iranian people. 

Putting Limited Relief in Perspective

In total, the approximately $7 billion in relief is a fraction of the costs that Iran will continue to incur during this first phase under the sanctions that will remain in place.  The vast majority of Iran’s approximately $100 billion in foreign exchange holdings are inaccessible or restricted by sanctions. 

In the next six months, Iran’s crude oil sales cannot increase.  Oil sanctions alone will result in approximately $30 billion in lost revenues to Iran – or roughly $5 billion per month – compared to what Iran earned in a six month period in 2011, before these sanctions took effect.  While Iran will be allowed access to $4.2 billion of its oil sales, nearly $15 billion of its revenues during this period will go into restricted overseas accounts.  In summary, we expect the balance of Iran’s money in restricted accounts overseas will actually increase, notdecrease, under the terms of this deal. 

Maintaining Economic Pressure on Iran and Preserving Our Sanctions Architecture

During the first phase, we will continue to vigorously enforce our sanctions against Iran, including by taking action against those who seek to evade or circumvent our sanctions. 

·         Sanctions affecting crude oil sales will continue to impose pressure on Iran’s government.  Working with our international partners, we have cut Iran’s oil sales from 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) in early 2012 to 1 million bpd today, denying Iran the ability to sell almost 1.5 million bpd.  That’s a loss of more than $80 billion since the beginning of 2012 that Iran will never be able to recoup.  Under this first step, the EU crude oil ban will remain in effect and Iran will be held to approximately 1 million bpd in sales, resulting in continuing lost sales worth an additional $4 billion per month, every month, going forward.

·         Sanctions affecting petroleum product exports to Iran, which result in billions of dollars of lost revenue, will remain in effect.

·         The vast majority of Iran’s approximately $100 billion in foreign exchange holdings remain inaccessible or restricted by our sanctions. 

·         Other significant parts of our sanctions regime remain intact, including:

o   Sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran and approximately two dozen other major Iranian banks and financial actors;

o   Secondary sanctions, pursuant to the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (CISADA) as amended and other laws, on banks that do business with U.S.-designated individuals and entities;

o   Sanctions on those who provide a broad range of other financial services to Iran, such as many types of insurance; and,

o   Restricted access to the U.S. financial system.

·         All sanctions on over 600 individuals and entities targeted for supporting Iran’s nuclear or ballistic missile program remain in effect.

·         Sanctions on several sectors of Iran’s economy, including shipping and shipbuilding, remain in effect.

·         Sanctions on long-term investment in and provision of technical services to Iran’s energy sector remain in effect.

·         Sanctions on Iran’s military program remain in effect.

·         Broad U.S. restrictions on trade with Iran remain in effect, depriving Iran of access to virtually all dealings with the world’s biggest economy

·         All UN Security Council sanctions remain in effect.

·         All of our targeted sanctions related to Iran’s state sponsorship of terrorism, its destabilizing role in the Syrian conflict, and its abysmal human rights record, among other concerns, remain in effect.

A Comprehensive Solution

During the six-month initial phase, the P5+1 will negotiate the contours of a comprehensive solution.  Thus far, the outline of the general parameters of the comprehensive solution envisions concrete steps to give the international community confidence that Iran’s nuclear activities will be exclusively peaceful.  With respect to this comprehensive resolution:  nothing is agreed to with respect to a comprehensive solution until everything is agreed to.  Over the next six months, we will determine whether there is a solution that gives us sufficient confidence that the Iranian program is peaceful.  If Iran cannot address our concerns, we are prepared to increase sanctions and pressure. 

Conclusion 

In sum, this first step achieves a great deal in its own right.  Without this phased agreement, Iran could start spinning thousands of additional centrifuges.  It could install and spin next-generation centrifuges that will reduce its breakout times.  It could fuel and commission the Arak heavy water reactor.  It could grow its stockpile of 20% enriched uranium to beyond the threshold for a bomb's worth of uranium. Iran can do none of these things under the conditions of the first step understanding.

Furthermore, without this phased approach, the international sanctions coalition would begin to fray because Iran would make the case to the world that it was serious about a diplomatic solution and we were not.  We would be unable to bring partners along to do the crucial work of enforcing our sanctions.  With this first step, we stop and begin to roll back Iran's program and give Iran a sharp choice:  fulfill its commitments and negotiate in good faith to a final deal, or the entire international community will respond with even more isolation and pressure.

The American people prefer a peaceful and enduring resolution that prevents Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and strengthens the global non-proliferation regime.  This solution has the potential to achieve that.  Through strong and principled diplomacy, the United States of America will do its part for greater peace, security, and cooperation among nations. 

DEVELOPING: 7.8 Earthquake Rocks Iran

Pakistanis evacuated from buildings in Karachi following a massive earthquake centered in neighboring Iran, April 16, 2013. / Getty Images

DEVELOPING: There are reports coming out today that Iran and Pakistan border was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake Tuesday morning. Nearby countries felt this massive earthquake.

The U.S. Geological Survey says the magnitude was estimated at 7.8 and the depth at 51 miles.

The quake was centered near the border with Pakistan, in a sparsely populated region of southeast Iran.

Reports on Iran's Press TV said at least 40 people had been killed, but no official figures were given and the reports could not be immediately confirmed. Another Iranian news agency, the semi-official ISNA, quoted an official from the national emergency response agency as saying there had been no deaths in Iran due to the quake. It wasn't immediately possible to reconcile the varying reports coming from Iranian media.

A senior Pakistani official did confirm to CBS News' Farhan Bokhari, however, that five people were killed in that country as a result of the quake.

"The number of casualties could rise as reports come in from different parts of the region," added the official. Reuters reported that five people -- three women and two children -- were killed when their house collapsed in the Baluchistan region, which spans the Iran-Pakistan border.

Iran's Red Crescent said it was facing a "complicated emergency situation" in the area with villages scattered over desolate hills and valleys. Iran's semiofficial ISNA news agency and others described the quake as the strongest to hit the region in more than 50 years.

Iran is prone to quakes, and the nation's southern coast runs along the boundary of a tectonic plate. The southeastern corner of the country, near the epicenter of Tuesday's temblor, sits near the point where three separate plates meet.

President Peres meets with US Secretary of State John Kerry

President Peres meeting with Secretary of State Kerry in Jerusalem
   Photo: Mark Neiman/GPO

Communicated by the Israeli  President’s Spokesperson
 Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs - The State of Israel


President Peres: “From the ashes of the Holocaust, we re-built the Jewish State with the capacity to defend ourselves, the energy to rebuild our land and with the heritage of justice for all."


President Shimon Peres, this afternoon (Monday, 8 April 2013), met with US Secretary of State John Kerry; the two held a diplomatic working meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the threat of a nuclear Iran and the strategic relationship between the two countries. At the beginning of the meeting the two delivered joint statements to the press and then conducted a small meeting in the president's private study.

President Peres began the meeting by welcoming Secretary of State Kerry and reflecting on Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day: "I welcome you here today to the State of Israel on behalf of all the people of Israel. We appreciate you being with us today, on Holocaust Memorial Day, and for taking part in the memorial ceremony this morning. We paid a heavy price and lost one third of our people. Yet from the ashes of the Holocaust, we re-built the Jewish State with the capacity to defend ourselves, the energy to rebuild our land and with the heritage of justice for all."

President Peres ended on a personal note and said, "We have a long friendship, I've never been disappointed and when I've been surprised it's been for the better."

Secretary of State Kerry, who attended this morning's Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony said, "It's really such an honor to be here today and to share in Holocaust Memorial Day. To be there in Yad Vashem, to lay a wreath on behalf of the American people but most importantly just to share in the uniqueness of that expression of sorrow and honor for this remarkable moment in history which we mark. I was standing there listening to the siren wail and thinking of the stories people have told me of everybody in Israel stopping, if you're in a car you get out and you stand to attention.

The whole country freezes. And I know it's one of only two moments when that happens. For Holocaust Memorial Day and for the fallen in battle.

Secretary John Kerry On Iran

Interview With Martha Raddatz of ABC

QUESTION: Secretary Kerry, let’s start with Iran. You have said they do not have an infinite amount of time for negotiations. The Israelis have said they are moving closer to the redline. Do you agree with the Israelis?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, I’m not going to get into redlines and timing publicly, except to reiterate what the President has said again and again, which is he prefers to have a diplomatic solution. He would like to see the P5+1 process, the negotiation process, be able to work, and avoid any consideration of any          military action.

But the President has been absolutely clear that his policy – the policy of the international community, it’s not just his. The international community has spoken, and that’s why the sanctions are in place. And it’s up to Iran now, hopefully, to come to the table constructively and work with us to avoid what nobody really wants.

QUESTION: It seems we’ve been hopeful year after year after year, and yet Iran gets closer and closer to a nuclear weapon.

SECRETARY KERRY: You’re absolutely correct. That’s why lines have been drawn before, and they’ve been passed. And that’s why the President has been so definitive this time. This is a very challenging moment with great risks and stakes for everybody, because the region will be far less stable and far more threatened if Iran were to have a nuclear weapon. It will spur a nuclear arms race, it has risks for greater terrorism. It will be destabilizing.

There are many reasons for why this is risky, and that’s why the President has said so clearly his policy is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon. Now, if they keep pushing the limits and not coming with a serious set of proposals or are prepared to actually resolve this, obviously, the risks get higher and confrontation becomes more possible.

QUESTION: Do you think we have this year and no longer?

SECRETARY KERRY: I’m not – again, Martha, I’m not going to discuss timeframes. I think --

QUESTION: And yet, the timeframe – as you said, redlines keep passing. And this time, the President’s --

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, they did in the past. They have not with this President. They have in the past. But right now, you have the most significant cooperation in history between Israeli intelligence, American intelligence, other intelligence entities. The international community is working diligently on a day-to-day basis to track, and that’s one of the reasons why Iran’s reluctance to allow the IAEA to get its questions answered and do its job becomes even more provocative.

Now, we just had a meeting in Almaty, in Kazakhstan, of the P5+1. They’ve scheduled another meeting. There is the time here for the Iranians to make a serious proposal, and I will repeat what the President has said and I have said a number of times: We are prepared, through the P5+1 and the negotiating process, to engage in a serious proposal that they would make to prove that their program is, in fact, a peaceful program. We look forward to doing so in a spirit of mutual respect and a spirit of good faith in order to get this resolved peacefully.

QUESTION: Syria. What’s – the policy there does not seem to be working either. Assad remains. What would you like to see done differently?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, let’s look at where we’ve been and where we are today. The President began the process by leading the effort to put in place sanctions that make it more difficult for President Assad to fuel his fighting machine. Secondly, the President, working with Secretary Clinton, worked to pull together the Syrian opposition. Who are they? How coordinated are they? How united are they? And the President has worked on that effort to get to a point now where there’s much greater clarity. There’s defined leadership, there’s a unified voice. And then the President directed me to come to Rome. It was America that pulled together this meeting, which has now ratcheted up the level of support and focus by every country involved. Some are giving lethal aid; some are not. But the point is --

QUESTION: Would you rule out giving lethal aid?

SECRETARY KERRY: Let me just finish. The point is that there was a holistic, united effort now that is focused on trying to save lives in Syria and make it clear to President Assad that we are determined and that he needs to think hard about his calculation in raining Scuds down on his population and destroying his state.

QUESTION: You don’t think that’s been clear before?

SECRETARY KERRY: I think he has doubted the resolve of the international community. I think he has thought, up until now, that he can simply have Hezbollah and Iran and some of the weapons that are coming in from Russia, and he can sit there and shoot it out. And if that’s his calculation, this new increase of effort is to make it clear to him he’s wrong. And he needs to come to the table according to what even the Russians have signed onto. The Russians have agreed, in Geneva, that there needs to be a transition government by mutual consent on both sides with full executive power. That does not include Assad as the executive running the government. And that will lead to elections, and to the opportunity for all the Syrian people to participate.

And one thing that I want to emphasize: For all of the Alawites who are fearing for their future, or the Christians, or the Druze, or any group there – Sunni, Shia – they all need to know that the vision of Moaz Khatib and the Syrian opposition, the promise of the Syrian opposition, is to have a Syria in which all voices are represented and protected.

QUESTION: Would you rule out lethal aid in the future?

SECRETARY KERRY: That’s not my job to do. That’s the President of the United States decision, and I don’t think this is a president who ever takes any option off the table. But for the moment, he feels like what we’re doing is the right policy.

QUESTION: Can you just tell me what you want to do differently, where you see the next four years going, what the Kerry approach to foreign policy is?

SECRETARY KERRY: Well, first of all, let me emphasize it’s not the Kerry approach to foreign policy, it’s the Obama approach. It’s President Obama’s approach, and his Administration. I certainly will weigh in with my ideas and my views. That’s what he asked me to do in taking on this job. And obviously, you know me well enough to know I have some views about some things I think we ought to do. But it’s up to the President to make those choices.

And I’m not going to get into – I’m a few weeks into this job. I’m not going to start playing the legacy or the evaluation game. I’m going to work day to day as hard as I can to protect America’s interests, to promote our economic opportunity, to advance our values in the world. And day to day, you’ll be able to measure what we’re doing. And at the end of four years, you guys will write about whatever you want to, but in the end, the American people and President Obama will judge what we do.

QUESTION: Thank you, sir.

SECRETARY KERRY: Thank you.

QUESTION: Appreciate it.

SECRETARY KERRY: Appreciate it. Thank you.

QUESTION: Thanks a lot.

Israel's PM Netanyahu Addresses AIPAC 2013

"President Obama and I agreed to focus our discussions on three main issues: Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, the deteriorating situation in Syria; and the need to find a responsible way to advance the peace with the Palestinians."

Transcript

Thank you, thank you very much.

Thank you, Rosie. And thank you Howard, Michael, Robert and all the leadership of AIPAC. Thank you for everything you do to strengthen the great alliance between Israel and The United States of America.

Let me say a special hello to my friend, Vice President Biden. He just spoke there. I have to say that I’ve learned over the years so much from Joe. I want to thank him for his steadfast support for Israel over so many decades. I’ve learned what Irish families are about from Joe Biden. I learned about his father. I learned that his background and ours is so similar, deeply grounded in values, and I just heard those values expressed.

I want to also recognize, and I’m sure you’ll all join me in recognizing, Defense Minister Barak, who I’ve sent to represent Israel in the AIPAC conference. Ehud, I want to thank you for the years of service for Israel’s security. Thank you, Ehud.

And I want to recognize Ambassadors Oren and Prossor. Michael and Ron, thank you both for your terrific service you’re doing for Israel every day.

Finally, I want to thank all of you who have come from far and wide to be here today to express your support for Israel.

As you know I was hoping to speak to you in person, but unfortunately, I had to stay in Israel to do something a lot more enjoyable - putting together a coalition government... Despite the difficulties, I intend to form a strong and stable government in the days ahead.

The first thing that my new government will have the privilege of doing is to warmly welcome President Obama to Israel. I look forward to the President’s visit. It will give me an opportunity, along with the people of Israel, to express our appreciation for what he has done for Israel.

The President and I agreed to focus our discussions on three main issues:

First, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons; 

Second, the deteriorating situation in Syria; 

And third, the need to find a responsible way to advance the peace with the Palestinians.

Now, on the first point: Iran has made it clear that it will continue to defy the will of the international community. Time after time, the world’s leading powers have tabled diplomatic proposals to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue peacefully. But I have to tell you the truth. Diplomacy has not worked.

Iran ignores all these offers. It is running out the clock. It has used negotiations, including the most recent ones, to buy time to press ahead with its nuclear program.

Thus far, the sanctions have not stopped the nuclear program either. The sanctions have hit the Iranian economy hard. That is true. But Iran's leaders just grit their teeth and move forward. Iran enriches more and more uranium; It installs faster and faster centrifuges; It’s still not crossed the red line I drew at the United Nations last September. But Iran is getting closer to that line, and it’s putting itself in a position to cross that line very quickly once it decides to do so.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

To prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, we cannot allow Iran to cross that red line. We have to stop its nuclear enrichment program before it’s too late. And I have to tell you, and with the clarity of my brain: words alone will not stop Iran; Sanctions alone will not stop Iran. Sanctions must be coupled with a clear and credible military threat if diplomacy and sanctions fail.

Israel's President Peres holds working meeting with US Under Secretary of State Sherman

Peres: "I remain convinced that President Obama will do all he can to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and that under his leadership the American administration will not cease in their attempts to find a solution to the Iranian threat."

President Shimon Peres, last week (Thursday, 28 February 2013), held a working meeting with US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, who manages the negotiations with Iran. Sherman, who arrived from the negotiations in Kazakhstan to Israel, briefed President Peres on the developments in the negotiations and reaffirmed the commitment of the United States of America to preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear armed state.

In statements delivered President Peres said, "After your in-depth briefing I remain convinced that President Obama will do all he can to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons and that under his leadership the American administration will not cease in their attempts to find a solution to the Iranian threat." Under Secretary Sherman thanked President Peres and said, "America has no better friend than you. I know that President Obama and Secretary Kerry so look forward to coming here and to the region and to talking about all the things we work on together for peace and security."

During the meeting between the two, President Peres raised before Under Secretary Sherman the severity with which Israel views Iran's attempts to acquire nuclear weapons and stressed that a nuclear Iran is an existential threat for peace in the world and not just Israel, "In Iran people are hanged without trial. Iran funds and arms the world's deadliest terror organizations. Instead of caring for the welfare of their people they invest huge resources into enriching uranium and do incredible harm to human rights." President Peres continued and said, "I have total faith in the Obama administration in its commitment and its actions in preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and I believe that President Obama stands behind his promise on the Iranian threat."

The Middle East What Next? 2013 Camden Conference Part 1

26th Camden Conference
by Doug Mills
World and National News Editor
RCN America Network

As a writer I am always happy When I cover a convention or meeting with high expectations and those expectations are met. Then there is that rare instance when those high expectations are not only met but are blown away! Such was the case for the Camden Conference this past week. So often the hype does not match the reality.

The 26^th Camden Conference included an amazing array of speakers who were the best in their field from Egypt, Israel, Iran and many others. If you think these were long dry speeches you should have been there when R. Nicholas Burns one of our former top diplomats in the State Department sat down on the same stage with Seyed Hossein Mousavian Iran’s former diplomat in charge of nuclear negotiations with Europe you would be dead wrong, the fireworks had everyone in the auditorium on the edge of their seats. But I am getting ahead of myself.

As a writer I am always happy When I cover a convention or meeting with high expectations and those expectations are met. Then there is that rare instance when those high expectations are not only met but are blown away! Such was the case for the Camden Conference this past week. So often the hype does not match the reality.

The topic for the 26th Annual Camden Conference, “The Middle East - What Next?”. The keynote address was presented by Robin Wright. Robin Wright is a journalist, author, and foreign policy analyst. She has reported from more than 140 countries on six continents for the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Sunday Times of London, CBS News, and the Christian Science Monitor. She won the National Magazine Award for The New Yorker. She has also written for The Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times Magazine, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, and many others. Wright has been a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, and spent several years as a roving correspondent in Asia and Latin America. She most recently covered U.S. foreign policy for the Washington Post. Besides a long career in journalism, Wright has been a fellow at the Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Yale, Duke, Stanford, the University of California at Santa Barbara, and the University of Southern California. She received her B.A. and M.A. from the University of Michigan. Wright has held a joint appointment as a United States Institute of Peace Senior Fellow and Wilson Center Distinguished Scholar during which she produced three books: The Iran Primer: Power, Politics, and U.S. Policy (2010), Rock the Casbah: Rage and Rebellion Across the Islamic World (2011), and The Islamists Are Coming: Who They Really Are(2012).

Rock The Casbah: What Next In The Middle East?

It had been two years since the Arab Spring movement. What is the state of the Middle East today? Are things better or worse? Robin gave us 5 Positives of Change in the Middle East.

1. Music: Music has helped to fuel change especially in the rap community. Music very often plays a part in social change.
2. New Roll Models: Young people are being presented new positive roll models to follow.
3. New Muslim Comedians: A new crop of Muslim comedians have emerged providing comic relief and pointing out some of the more negative aspects of jehadism.
4. New Muslim Theater: Many new theater productions are being produced teaching the positive side of the Muslim religion.
5. Women are on the front lines of the change that is taking place.

However after two years there is still very much to be concerned about.

1. 120,000,000 are now struggling to gain rights. The old order is gone and the new order has not taken shape. It is “the law of the jungle” in the streets of the Middle East.
2. Every one of these countries is worse off economically today than it was two years ago.
3. The proliferation of democracy. This new freedom has caused the rise of hundreds of political parties, all with different priorities.
4. The proliferation of Islamist ideas. Many new Islamist groups have emerged and with the old line groups are all seeking to foll the vacuum left by the Arab Spring Movement.
5. Security of the region has been affected by the rise of new militant groups.
6. Tribes are reemerging as a defining forge in society.
7. Demographics, government leaders are older, the population is young and the economy is down.
8. Corruption is rampant.
9. Women are not fairing well and are often targeted for violence.
10. The map of the Middle East could change drasticly as countries break up into tribal factions.

Bad news? Scarey news? Robin reminded us how long after the American Revolution it was till all people in this country were truly free. “Change takes time.”

NASA Satellites Find Freshwater Losses in Middle East

PASADENA, Calif. - A new study using data from a pair of gravity-measuring NASA satellites finds that large parts of the arid Middle East region lost freshwater reserves rapidly during the past decade.

Scientists at the University of California, Irvine; NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; and the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., found during a seven-year period beginning in 2003 that parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran along the Tigris and Euphrates river basins lost 117 million acre feet (144 cubic kilometers) of total stored freshwater. That is almost the amount of water in the Dead Sea. The researchers attribute about 60 percent of the loss to pumping of groundwater from underground reservoirs.

The findings, to be published Friday, Feb. 15, in the journal Water Resources Research, are the result of one of the first comprehensive hydrological assessments of the entire Tigris-Euphrates-Western Iran region. Because obtaining ground-based data in the area is difficult, satellite data, such as those from NASA's twin Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, are essential. GRACE is providing a global picture of water storage trends and is invaluable when hydrologic observations are not routinely collected or shared beyond political boundaries.

"GRACE data show an alarming rate of decrease in total water storage in the Tigris and Euphrates river basins, which currently have the second fastest rate of groundwater storage loss on Earth, after India," said Jay Famiglietti, principle investigator of the study and a hydrologist and professor at UC Irvine. "The rate was especially striking after the 2007 drought. Meanwhile, demand for freshwater continues to rise, and the region does not coordinate its water management because of different interpretations of international laws."

Famiglietti said GRACE is like having a giant scale in the sky. Within a given region, rising or falling water reserves alter Earth's mass, influencing how strong the local gravitational attraction is. By periodically measuring gravity regionally, GRACE tells us how much each region's water storage changes over time.

"GRACE really is the only way we can estimate groundwater storage changes from space right now," Famiglietti said.

The team calculated about one-fifth of the observed water losses resulted from soil drying up and snowpack shrinking, partly in response to the 2007 drought. Loss of surface water from lakes and reservoirs accounted for about another fifth of the losses. The majority of the water lost -- approximately 73 million acre feet (90 cubic kilometers) -- was due to reductions in groundwater.

"That's enough water to meet the needs of tens of millions to more than a hundred million people in the region each year, depending on regional water use standards and availability," said Famiglietti.

Famiglietti said when a drought reduces an available surface water supply, irrigators and other water users turn to groundwater supplies. For example, the Iraqi government drilled about 1,000 wells in response to the 2007 drought, a number that does not include the numerous private wells landowners also very likely drilled.

"Water management is a complex issue in the Middle East -- an area that already is dealing with limited water resources and competing stakeholders," said Kate Voss, lead author of the study and a water policy fellow with the University of California's Center for Hydrological Modeling in Irvine, which Famiglietti directs.

"The Middle East just does not have that much water to begin with, and it's a part of the world that will be experiencing less rainfall with climate change," said Famiglietti. "Those dry areas are getting dryer. The Middle East and the world's other arid regions need to manage available water resources as best they can."

Study co-author Matt Rodell of Goddard added it is important to remember groundwater is being extracted unsustainably in parts of the United States, as well.

"Groundwater is like your savings account," Rodell said. "It's okay to draw it down when you need it, but if it's not replenished, eventually it will be gone."

GRACE is a joint mission with the German Aerospace Center and the German Research Center for Geosciences, in partnership with the University of Texas at Austin. For more about GRACE, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/grace and http://www.csr.utexas.edu/grace . The California Institute of Technology in Pasadena manages JPL for NASA