A Digest of DEBKAfile

HOT POINTS 

A Digest of DEBKAfile Round-the-Clock Exclusives in Week Ending Nov. 28, 2013 

November 23, 2013 Briefs 

    Egypt and Turkey expel ambassadors, downgrade relations 

    Relations between Cairo and Ankara went into crisis Saturday when Egypt downgraded its relations with Turkey and declared Turkish ambassador persona non grata. Ankara responded in kind. Egypt accuses the Turkish prime minister of crudely interfering in its internal affairs by is campaign to restore the deposed president Mohamed Morsi. 

November 24, 2013 Briefs 

    Rebel battle to break out of Damascus siege costs 150 lives 

    Heavy fighting erupted Sunday when rebel forces tried to break the long Syrian army siege of their strongholds in the Ghouta area east of Damascus. They were brought by famine and desperation to fight to break the stranglehold. 

    More than 11,000 children killed in Syria’s civil war 

    In nearly three years of civil war, more than 11,000 children have died, hundreds targeted by snipers, others killed in summary executions or by torture – some as young as one, the London-based Oxford Research Group reports. 

    Tehran will scrap interim deal if Congress enacts new sanctions 

    debkafile’s Iranian sources report that Iran has warned Washington that if the US Congress legislates new, harsher sanctions, it will treat the interim accord signed in Geneva Sunday as null and void. 

    Kerry: The new nuclear accord makes Israel safer 

    On a visit to London, Secretary of State John Kerry remarked that the interim accord signed Sunday in Geneva would make Israel safer during the next six months of negotiations. 

    Putin hails the deal with Iran as a breakthrough 

    Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed the newly-signed first-step nuclear accord with Iran as a breakthrough and “just the beginning!” 

    Iran says deal recognizes Iran’s enrichment right. Kerry denies 

    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announced Sunday that the deal reached in Geneva means the world powers recognize Tehran's “nuclear rights.” Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote on Twitter that Iran’s enrichment rights had been recognized in the negotiations. 

    But US Secretary of State John Kerry denied this, saying, “The first step, let me be clear, does not say that Iran has a right to enrich uranium." Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed the Iranian interpretation. 

    Netanyahu: Deal lets Iran gain a nuclear bomb. Israel not bound 

    Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu slammed the interim nuclear deal signed in Geneva early Sunday as “a historic mistake that makes the world a more dangerous place.” Israel is not obligated by this agreement.” Iran is committed to Israel’s destruction, he said and "I want to make clear… Israel will not allow Iran develop a military nuclear capability. For the deal, Iran made “cosmetic concessions that it can do away with in a matter of weeks,” the prime minister said. 

Seven loopholes favoring Iran in the new nuclear deal 

24 Nov. The first preliminary nuclear deal the six world powers (US, Russia, China, UK, France and German) signed with Iran before dawn Sunday, Nov. 24, failed to address the most suspicious elements of Iran’s nuclear program, i.e. its clandestine military dimensions. The expanded UN inspections were not linked, for instance, to Iran’s concealed nuclear sites or even Parchin, where Iran is suspected of testing nuclear-related explosions. Israel, the Gulf States and others are therefore dubious of the accord’s capacity to freeze Iran’s nuclear program. debkafile lists seven of the most glaring loopholes 

Nuclear deal reached between Iran and six world powers in Geneva 

24 Nov. After all-night talks, a first-step nuclear deal was struck Sunday in Geneva between Iran and the six powers. Obama said key aspects of Iran’s nuclear program will be rolled back in return for limited sanctions relief. No new centrifuges will added to the enrichment process, work will stop at the Arak nuclear reactor and the UN will expand inspections to daily visits to Natanz and Fordo to ensure that Iran was unable to make a nuclear bomb. The core sanctions architecture will remain in place pending a comprehensive solution to be negotiated in the next s six months, said the president, but no new sanctions will be imposed. 

debkafile: None of the measures revealed so far deal with the concealed military features of Iran’s nuclear program, or the details of expanded inspections. Israel is not expected to accept any document with those omissions. Israel and Saudi Arabia said they would not be bound by the deal’s provisions and reserved their military options. 

November 25, 2013 Briefs 

    Tehran reports US released $8 billion of Iran’s assets 

    Iranian government spokesman Mohammad-Baqer Nobakht reported Monday night that the US had released $8 bn of Iran’s frozen assets, the day after it reached a first-step nuclear deal with six world powers. 

    Netanyahu to send national security adviser to Washington 

    Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu is sending his national security adviser, Yossi Cohen, to Washington for talks on the nuclear accord just signed in Geneva. 

    Syrian peace conference set for Jan. 22 

    UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon announced Monday that the Syrian peace conference, “Geneva II,” has been scheduled for Jan. 22. 

    Saudis warn they will strike out on their own after Iran nuclear deal 

    Senior Saudi royal adviser Nawaf Obaid Monday accused Western allies of deceit in striking a nuclear accord with Iran and declared Riyadh would follow an independent foreign policy. “We were lied to, things were hidden from us,” he said. “The problem is not with the deal struck in Geneva but how it was done.” In Riyadh, the Saudi government cautiously welcomed the Geneva nuclear accord hoping it was a first step towards a comprehensive solution for Iran’s nuclear program. 

    Canada deeply skeptical of the six-power nuclear deal with Iran 

    Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Sunday that Canada will not lift any of its sanctions against Iran until the Islamic regime fully abandons its nuclear weapon ambitions. He said he is deeply skeptical of the deal closed in Geneva between the six world powers and Iran, given Tehran’s record of defying the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency. 

    In Washington, the White House announced after a telephone call from President Barack Obama to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that they had agreed to stay in close touch during the next six months of negotiations on a comprehensive solution of the Iranian nuclear issue. 

    France backpedals, doesn’t expect Israeli strike on Iran 

    French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius estimates that Israel will not now take preemptive military action against a nuclear Iran while the world was in mid-negotiation with Tehran on a comprehensive nuclear agreement. Two Arab emirates break ranks with Saudi Arabia: The UAE said that the interim deal could support “the stability of the region,” and Bahrain found it “removes fears from us, whether from Iran or any other state.”