European officials have reportedly relayed a message to Israeli officials about the Obama administration’s plans concerning the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran. The U.S. and Iran are reportedly closing in on a deal that would allow the Ayatollah’s regime to keep the vast majority of its centrifuges running, while also allowing for Iran to be in charge of stabilizing its surrounding region.
Israeli Army Radio reports that the deal is being brokered between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. The Iranians would purportedly have to make sure that there are no flare-ups in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. It remains unclear how Iran would rein in the three countries, all of which remain hotbeds of sectarian violence. In exchange for Iran agreeing to terms that appear to very much empower its regime, the United States will also agree to lift its economic sanctions against Iran, according to reports.
Iran has in the past contributed to the regional strife by arming and fighting alongside Shiite sects in Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. The Iranian regime has aligned itself behind Syria’s brutal Assad regime, its Hezbollah proxy in Lebanon, and the upper echelons of Iraq’s Shiite leadership. It allies in the region have been responsible for even more death and destruction than Sunni jihadist groups such as Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, according to some estimates.
Last week, the Obama administration denied a report that said the president would agree to 80 percent of Iran’s demands in the ongoing nuclear talks. Israeli officials believed the deal would render Iran with the capability to reach nuclear “breakout capacity” almost imminently, according to reports.
The AP reports that the U.S. and Iran are close to agreeing to a deal that would allow for Iran to keep almost all of its 10,000 centrifuges, but their potential to make nuclear weapons would be reduced, according to diplomats involved in the negotiations. The report notes that experts have warned that its very easy to reverse the centrifuge reduction and maximize its efficiency.
Iranian figurehead President Hassan Rouhani told reporters on Tuesday that “Fortunately, the trend [of Iran’s nuclear issue] is proceeding within the framework set by Iran.”