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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iranian official calls on West to scrap nuclear arms before any missile talks
2018-03-04
DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran will not negotiate over its ballistic missiles until the United States and Europe dismantle nuclear weapons and long-range missiles, a top Iranian military official said on Saturday.
He’s so cute!
Separately, Iran confirmed that the Iranian foreign minister had met his former U.S. counterpart John Kerry on the sidelines of a Munich meeting last month.
That was a waste of time — Mr. John F. Kerry (former secretary of state, former senator, former Democratic presidential candidate) will never have power or influence again.
The New Yorker magazine earlier reported that Kerry had urged Tehran not to abandon a 2015 nuclear deal, despite tensions with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

While Iran has accepted curbs on its nuclear work - which it says is for purely peaceful purposes - it has repeatedly refused to discuss its missile program, something the United States and European countries have called for.

"The condition for negotiating Iran’s missiles is the destruction of the nuclear weapons and long-range missiles of the United States and Europe," Iranian Armed Forces spokesman Masoud Jazayeri was quoted by the state news agency IRNA as saying.
“You disarm yourself first, then we’ll talk about what you’ll pay to talk to us about us thinking about disarming.”
Iran says its missile program is defensive, and that it is not related to Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers which led to the lifting of sanctions against the country.

European powers and Iran have started talks over Tehran’s role in the Middle East and will meet again this month in Italy as part of efforts to prove to Trump that they are meeting his concerns over the 2015 nuclear deal.

On Friday, the New Yorker reported that during a meeting, which it said was attended by others involved in the nuclear deal," Kerry quietly urged the Iranians not to abandon the deal or violate its terms - whatever the Trump Administration does".

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi, quoted by IRNA, said that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif"has always met on the sidelines of such international summits with attending personalities and elites ... in the framework of preserving Iranian interests".

Zarif had met on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference with"John Kerry and Ernest Moniz, foreign and energy ministers of the previous U.S. government, who have a critical attitude towards Trump Administration policies", Qasemi said.
Posted by:746

#6  I think we could get rid of a few... right over Iran.
Posted by: DarthVader   2018-03-04 20:18  

#5  Some statesmen age gracelessly, leaping
And splashing, their enemies weeping,
While other great plodders,
Tails sunk in warm waters,
Dream peacefully, vertically sleeping.
Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220   2018-03-04 18:08  

#4  No jail cell big enough for that Easter Island Noggin
Posted by: Frank G   2018-03-04 13:58  

#3  Mike, John F'n Kerry clearly violated the Logan Act by negotiating with the North VietNamese, during an active (if undeclared) war. He was not prosecuted then; he knows he won't be prosecuted now.

Of course, no one has ever been prosecuted for violating the Logan Act.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia   2018-03-04 13:46  

#2  "On Friday, the New Yorker reported that during a meeting, which it said was attended by others involved in the nuclear deal," Kerry quietly urged the Iranians not to abandon the deal or violate its terms - whatever the Trump Administration does"."

A. They already have.
B. They are constantly doing so, as a matter of policy.
C. Mr. Secretary, allow me to refer you to 1 Stat. 613, 18 U.S.C. § 953, enacted January 30, 1799, AKA the Logan Act. You may find it interesting. Now sit down and shut up. Your 'legacy' turned into a pile of crap long ago, and nothing you can do will save it.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2018-03-04 13:25  

#1  Smoking way too much of that wacky weed - so common over there.
Posted by: 3dc   2018-03-04 01:11  

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