‘Decisive’ Moment Nears on Iran Nuclear Talks, Says Blinken

‘Decisive’ Moment Nears on Iran Nuclear Talks, Says Blinken
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‘Decisive’ Moment Nears on Iran Nuclear Talks, Says Blinken

‘Decisive’ Moment Nears on Iran Nuclear Talks, Says Blinken

The United States and its European allies said on Thursday that it was now just a matter of weeks to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal.

Indirect talks between Iran and the United States on reviving the nuclear deal resumed almost two months ago.

Western diplomats have previously indicated they were hoping to have a breakthrough over the next few weeks, but sharp differences remain with the toughest issues still unresolved.

Iran has rejected any deadline imposed by Western powers.

Diplomats and analysts say the longer Iran remains outside the deal, the more nuclear expertise it will gain, shortening the time it might need to race to build a bomb if it chose to, thereby undermining the accord's original purpose.

"We are indeed at a decisive moment," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told a news conference after meeting French, German and British ministers in Berlin.

"There is real urgency and it's really now a matter of weeks, where we determine whether or not we can return to mutual compliance with the agreement."

The eighth round of talks, the first under Iran's new hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi, resumed on Dec. 27 after adding some new Iranian demands to a working text.

Western states have repeatedly said that time was running out without setting a deadline for the end of talks.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock again said the window of opportunity was closing.

"The negotiations have now entered a decisive phase. We need to make very, very urgent progress here, otherwise we will not be able to reach an agreement together that will bring sufficient added value to the central issue of non-proliferation," she said.



Trump: God Saved Me because He Wanted Me to Save the US, World

Former US President Donald Trump  - AFP
Former US President Donald Trump  - AFP
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Trump: God Saved Me because He Wanted Me to Save the US, World

Former US President Donald Trump  - AFP
Former US President Donald Trump  - AFP

Donald Trump insisted that he is “not a threat to democracy” in an interview with TV personality Dr Phil on Tuesday night, during which he also suggested that he survived an assassination attempt last month because God wanted him to save the US - and possibly the world.

During the hour-long, sit-down in Las Vegas, the former president attempted to clarify previous remarks about wanting to be a “dictator for one day” and ensuring people would “not have to vote again” if he wins the White House in November, The Independent reported.

Trump once again laid into Democratic rival Kamala Harris over her border policy; baselessly claimed that mail-in voter ballots would result in “massive fraud”; and pushed the Big Lie that he had won the 2020 election.

Discussing the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, last month, he was asked by Dr Phil McGraw why his life was spared.

“I mean, the only thing I can think is that God loves our country, and he thinks we're going to bring our country back. He wants to bring it back. It's so bad right now,” Trump replied.

Asked by Dr Phil if he believed that “God’s hand” had played a part in his survival, the former president replied: “I do.”

Trump also said that being president was “much more dangerous than a race car driver,” or any other profession.

“I said to the Christians, we’ve got to win this election,” Trump asserted.

Trump also claimed that his comments to Fox News’ host Sean Hannity in December about being “a dictator for one day” were in jest, and were really referring to his desire to get work quickly.