Russia's Demand for US Guarantees May Harm Nuclear Talks

Tehran — 

Russia’s demand for written U.S. guarantees that sanctions on Moscow would not damage Russian cooperation with Iran is “not constructive” for talks between Tehran and global powers to revive a 2015 nuclear deal, a senior Iranian official told Reuters Saturday.

The announcement by Russia, which could torpedo months of intensive indirect talks between Tehran and Washington in Vienna, came shortly after Tehran said it had agreed a roadmap with the U.N. nuclear watchdog to resolve outstanding issues which could help secure the nuclear pact.

“Russians had put this demand on the table [at the Vienna talks] since two days ago. There is an understanding that by changing its position in Vienna talks Russia wants to secure its interests in other places. This move is not constructive for Vienna nuclear talks,” said the Iranian official in Tehran.

Demanding written U.S. guarantees that Western sanctions imposed on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine would not damage its cooperation with Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the limitations had become a stumbling block for the Iran nuclear deal, warning the West that Russian national interests would have to be taken into account.

Lavrov said the sanctions on Russia over the conflict in Ukraine had created a “problem” from Moscow’s perspective. When asked whether Russia’s demand would harm 11 months of talks between Tehran and world powers, including Russia, Iran Project Director at International Crisis Group, Ali Vaez said: “Not yet. But it’s impossible to segregate the two crises for much longer.”

“The U.S. can issue waivers for the work related to the transfer of excess fissile material to Russia. But it’s a sign that the commingling of the two issues has started,” Vaez said.

All parties involved in Vienna talks said Friday they were close to reaching an agreement. “We have agreed to provide the IAEA by the end of [the Iranian month of] Khordad [June 21] with documents related to outstanding questions between Tehran and the agency,” Iran’s nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami told a joint news conference with International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi.

Grossi arrived in Tehran late Friday to discuss one of the last thorny issues blocking revival of the pact, which in return for a lifting of economic sanctions limited Iran’s enrichment of uranium, making it harder for Tehran to develop material for nuclear weapons.

“It is important to have this understanding … to work together, to work very intensively,” Grossi told the televised news conference. “Without resolving these [outstanding] issues, efforts to revive the JCPOA may not be possible.”

A major sticking point in the talks is that Tehran wants the question of uranium traces found at several old but undeclared sites in Iran to be closed. Western powers say that is a separate matter to the deal, which the IAEA is not a party to, several officials have told Reuters.

Grossi, who also held talks with Iran’s foreign minister before returning to Vienna on Saturday, said that “there are still matters that need to be addressed by Iran.”

The IAEA has been seeking answers from Iran on how the uranium traces got there – a topic often referred to as “outstanding safeguards issues.”

Grossi’s trip has raised hopes that an agreement with the IAEA will potentially clear the way for revival of the nuclear pact that was abandoned in 2018 by former U.S. President Donald Trump, who also reimposed far-reaching sanctions on Iran.

Since 2019, Tehran has breached the deal’s nuclear limits and gone well beyond, rebuilding stockpiles of enriched uranium, refining it to higher fissile purity and installing advanced centrifuges to speed up output. Iran denies it has ever sought to acquire nuclear weapons.

Iran Lawmakers Want Guarantees that West Won't Exit Any Revived Nuclear Deal

Iranian lawmakers have urged President Ebrahim Raisi to obtain guarantees from the United States and three European countries that they won’t exit the nuclear deal being renegotiated in Vienna, Iranian state media reported on Sunday.

In a letter to Raisi, they stated that the United States and European parties to the nuclear deal — Britain, France, and Germany — should also guarantee that they would not trigger the “snapback mechanism” under which sanctions on Iran would be immediately reinstated if it violates nuclear compliance.

“We have to learn a lesson from past experiences and put a red line on the national interest by not committing to any agreement without obtaining necessary guarantees first,” lawmakers said in the letter.

The statement was signed by 250 out of 290 Iranian parliamentarians.

It comes as negotiators from Iran and the remaining parties to the agreement — Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China — are working to revive a 2015 deal, which granted Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.

The United States has participated indirectly in the talks because it withdrew from the deal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden has signaled that he wants to rejoin the agreement.

Iran’s lawmakers also made it a condition that a return to the deal should only go ahead if all sanctions on Iran are lifted.

They also first want to confirm that Iran receives money from its exports, before Tehran returns to nuclear compliance, the letter said.

On February 19, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the talks in Vienna have come a long way over the past 10 months and that “all elements for a conclusion of the negotiations are on the table.”

But he also criticized Iran for continuing enrichment while suspending monitoring by the UN nuclear agency.

On the same day, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that it’s up to Western countries to show flexibility and “the ball is now in their court.” He said Iran was “ready to achieve a good deal.”

Information from AP and AFP was used in this report.

Candidates for peace seats in Antioquia denounce having no guarantees - Medellín - Colombia

Without guarantees for the elections on March 13, This is how the candidates for the peace seats in Antioquia arewho, a month before being measured at the polls, have not been able to start campaigning because the National Government has not disbursed the resources, which adds to the lack of security in the territories due to the presence of armed groups.

Several entities have already warned about the risks of this electoral contest, the most recent was the Ombudsman’s Office, which indicated this Thursday that the candidates and communities of the South of Córdoba and Bajo Cauca Antioqueño and Chocó are at high risk due to the action of groups armed.

Although this electoral alert was for the entire national territory, due to the pressure exerted by the ELN, the FARC dissidents and the Clan del Golfomainly, was made from the municipality of Caucasia, one of the Antioquia territories that are included in the special transitory districts of peace.

Through these special transitional constituencies for peace (CTEP), the victims will have representation in the Congress of the Republic for the first time this year, so the elections will be held in the rural area of ​​prioritized municipalities in 16 groups.

Antioquia was included in four of the CTEPs. Section 3, which corresponds to the North, Northeast and Lower Cauca regions and covers 13 municipalities (Amalfi, Anorí, Briceño, Cáceres, Caucasia, El Bagre, Ituango, Nechí, Remedios, Segovia, Tarazá, Valdivia and Zaragoza); 6, which is made up of two Antioquia municipalities (Vigía del Fuerte and Murindó), sharing space with 12 from Chocó; section 13, which covers the municipality of Yondó (Antioquia) and shares space with six others in the department of Bolívar; and 16, which includes eight municipalities from Urabá Antioquia (Carepa, Chigorodó, Mutatá, Necoclí, San Pedro de Urabá, Apartadó and Turbo) and one from the West (Dabeiba).

Added to the alert from the Ombudsman in Bajo Cauca was that of the Electoral Observation Mission (MOE), which indicated that 58% of the 167 municipalities of the Special Transitory Circumscriptions of Paz present some level of electoral risk, but more than the third part is concentrated in the Districts of Nariño-Cauca-Valle, Bajo Cauca and Chocó (38.1%).

According to the EOM, in terms of risk due to factors of violence and indicators of electoral fraud, in C3 Bajo Cauca, 9 of its municipalities are at extreme risk and 4 at high risk, which means that 100% of the municipalities in that district have worrying levels of risk.

In turn, in the two municipalities that are part of constituency number, the municipalities of Vigía del Fuerte and Murindó are one at high risk and the other at extreme. And of those in Urabá Antioquia, three municipalities are at high risk and one is at extreme risk.

In turn, Amalfi, Anorí and Segovia are the municipalities at greatest risk of electoral fraud, says the MOE.

“The EOM recommends that the electoral authorities, attorney general, prosecutor’s office and national police adopt the necessary measures to prevent and promptly investigate actions indicative of crimes or irregularities against the electoral process such as electoral transhumance, vote buying, or any other action that affects the electoral transparency”, said Alejandra Barrios, director of the MOE.

Difficulties in financing

These elections will take place in the rural areas of the 167 municipalities most affected by violence in Colombia. In these, 16 seats will be elected, among 403 candidates from social organizations, of victims, peasants and women, and of ethnic organizations.

In Antioquia, 68 candidates belonging to 34 organizations were registered, according to data from the Registrar’s Office, because it had to be done through a joint list (a man and a woman) with two candidates each. Of these organizations, seven are for victims, four are for peasants, there are three community councils, an indigenous reservation and a significant group of citizens, in addition to 18 social organizations.

Fernando Valencia, a professor at the University of Antioquia, explained that there are serious difficulties in this process, one of the points of the Peace Agreement for the victims to see themselves represented in Congress. The first, said the expert, was that these elections were put “by force” in the electoral calendar of the elections to Congress, which have been taking place for two years.

One of the main obstacles now is misinformation, since voters in rural areas do not recognize the mechanics of these votes, there is no pedagogy on the subject and there are large deficits of identity cards and voting stations.

“The social organizations that applied for candidacies have not been able to access state financing, because they were given a peremptory term, they did not have the information, they have not been able to access the conditions of the guarantee policies, which are quite demanding and quite expensive, and because social organizations do not have the administrative and accounting structure, neither financial nor legal, to support these requirements”, Valencia pointed out.

Víctor José Palacios Villa, candidate from the municipality of Necoclí, pointed out that precisely at this moment he has not been able to acquire the policy required by the National Government for the disbursement of resources, taking into account that financing by third parties is prohibited.

“That today the resources have not arrived from the Government is traumatic, because it is in the resolution, but they put some requirements on us, such as the issue of policies, and today in Urabá we have not been able to find an insurer that allows us to insure those resources. Today we, the victims’ candidates, are in limbo, I speak to you from my case, an organization of victims that has no assets and has no way of running campaigns,” Palacios said.

Social networks, meetings and messages have been the only tools until now, to campaign, but the situation is complex as they have to travel to rural areas and remote from the municipalities.

“I personally have not been able to advance, that is why I have been thinking of joining a colleague who is from here in Segovia, because the guarantees are none. We have no budget and we have nothing. This is the work of us, the victims’ leaders, there are so many obstacles that they put in our way”, said candidate Luz Aleida Herrera Castaño.

the machineries

According to teacher Valencia, what the law stipulates is that the only way to donate money to these campaigns is through a state fund, administered by the Registrar’s Office and the National Electoral Council, where the resources must be distributed equitably among the campaigns, although in practice this would not be the case.

Some leaders have denounced a display of propaganda, resources, meetings and events that are not being financed with state resources, so the authorities must put the magnifying glass on several things.

The first is that the candidates are indeed victims and that they meet the requirements of territorial and sectoral representation, an aspect that apparently is not being met in all cases, although these had to be certified by the Victims Unit. The second is the real financing of the campaigns and if there is a relationship with the traditional political parties, which is not allowed, and of course the security of the candidates.

meet the candidates

Victims Organizations

1. Corporation of Surviving Victims of the Conflict in Urabá Envisioning Peace – Comupaz

Candidates: Jhony Rufino Lozano and Inés Mestra Yanes

2. Association of Displaced Persons of Necoclí – Asodene

Candidates: Víctor José Palacios Villa and Herly Patricia Garcés Vidal

3. Association of Displaced Persons of the Municipality of Briceño

Candidates: Jhon Jairo González Agudelo and Martha Eliana Cardozo Díaz

4. Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights – Credhos

Candidates: Juan Pablo Méndez Zuluaga and Ángela Oriana Martínez Ojeda

5. Association of Displaced Persons and Women of Antioquia “Adma”

Candidates: Anaidalyt Delgado Lezama and Bairon Augusto Pérez Vélez

6. Environmental and Social Corporation Building Peace – Coapaz

Candidates: Manzur Agustín Sierra and Esther Cecilia Cabrera Pérez

7. Environmental and Social Corporation Building Peace – Coapaz

Candidates: Sandra Milena Puerta Buriticá and Manuel Tapias Montes

Social Organizations

8. Funvisoc

Candidates: Doris Patricia Carvajal Londoño and Germán Horacio Sucerquia Jaramillo

9. Strength and Will Therapeutic Community Foundation

Candidates: Jorge Arley Guisao Cifuentes and Paola Andrea Gutiérrez Rodríguez

10. Multiactive Social Cooperative Working Together – Coosocialtj

Candidates: Gabriel Antonio León Manco and Leydy Johana Castrillón Palencia

11. Foundation for the Comprehensive Development of Victims and Disabled Fundamasvida

Candidates: Ángela María Hernández Peña and Daniel Solano Hoyos

12. Green Hearts Corporation

Candidates: Roberto Arturo Mejía Vásquez and Lina Marcela Villegas López

13. Redesc Corporation

Candidates: Dibia Estela Escobar Mendoza and Hildemaro Cruz Borja

14. Association of Victims of Violence in Riosucio Clamores

Candidates: Diober Silvestre Blanco Agamez and Geanys Barba Padilla

15. Intercultural Association for the People and Forests of San Lucas – Asigeboslu

Candidates: María Margarita Palacio Pérez and Servio Nolasco Urzola Muñoz

16. Family and Friends Association of Chocó – Asfachocó

Candidates: Edwin Delgado Córdoba and Yajaira Salazar Córdoba

17. Segovia-Remedios Mining Board Association

Candidates: Yarley Erasmo Marín López and Liliana Patricia Peláez Gil

18. Mano de Dios New Dawn Committee of Displaced Persons Association (Asocodeman)

Candidates: Frank David Mejía Jiménez and Marledys del Carmen Ciprián Mejía

19. Shared Happiness Corporation

Candidates: Eusebio Palmera Berrío and Marley Moreno Córdoba

20. Guild Association of Heveiculturists of the Nechí River Basin – Asogrecan

Candidates: Generoso Segundo Barragán Martínez and Sandra Trujillo Salas

21. Turbo Harambe Afro-descendant Black Communities Social and Sports Corporation

Candidates: Gloria Elena Eljach Echavarría and Marlon Caro Úsuga

22. Corporation We Create Urabá – Corpocreamos

Candidates: Menderson Mosquera Quinto and Diana Marcela Hurtado Mosquera

23. Association of Agricultural Producers of the Vereda La Esperanza- Asproages

Candidates: Eduardo Enrique Páez Hernández and Madeny María Meneses Hoyos

24. Corpovigente Vision People Corporation

Candidates: Luis Guillermo Cardona Garzón and Luz Aleida Herrera Castaño

25. Diocesan Share Foundation

Candidates: Luis Eduardo Arvaez Villegas and Diana Tirado Hernandez

community councils

26. Community Council of the La Larga and Tumaradó Rivers

Candidates: Pablo Antonio López Moreno and Jaqueline Ospina Sepúlveda

27. Major Community Council of Nóvita “Cocoman”

Candidates: James Hermenegildo Mosquera Torres and Claudia Patricia Salas Perea

28. Middle Porce Community Council

Candidates: Jhon Jairo Robledo Palacio and María Cecilia Mosquera

peasant organizations

29. Peasant Association of Urabá Ascocamura Hope is Reborn

Candidates: Edier Esteban Manco Pineda and Alcira Blanquicet Navarro

30. Association of United Peasants of Caucasia- Asocamuc

Candidates: Ana Patricia Henao Arrieta and Manuel Eduardo Torres Herrera

31. Association of Canaleteras Futuristas for the Recovery of the Social Fabric and Peace- Growing Alongside the River

Candidates: Pablo Oved Moreno Espinosa and Luz Marina Jiménez Escobar

32. Association of Rubber Producers of the Vereda La Corcovada Municipality of Caucasia Asoccor

Candidates: Edith Margoth Navarro Arrieta and Róbinson Piedrahíta Henao

Indigenous reservation

33. Zenú El Volao Indigenous Reservation

Candidates: Sobeida González Márquez and Alberto Antonio Flórez Márquez

Significant group of citizens

34. I am Uraba

Candidates: Everto Arroyo Pérez and Karen Juliana López Salazar

Elections 2022: Electoral Guarantees Table installed in Antioquia - Medellín - Colombia

With the presence of the Minister of the Interior, in presidential functions, Daniel Palacios Martínez; the National Registrar of Civil Status, Alexander Vega and the Governor of AntiochAníbal Gaviria, installed the Departmental Table of Electoral Guarantees for the department.

The event was also attended by representatives of the different political parties and movements, high-ranking Army and Police officers, mayors of several municipalities, and other actors in the electoral process.

“What is intended with this table is to monitor the entire electoral process, give the greatest guarantees to each and every one of the actors in the process, to have a clean, safe and democratic citizen vote,” said Minister Palacios.

For this, he added, there are two mechanisms that will be applied for the votes for Congress and coalitions on March 13.

The first was called ‘Plan Agora 2’which aims to ensure the safety of candidates and transparency in campaigns.

The second, known as ‘Democracy Plan’will be responsible for ensuring security in the territories, for which more than 100,000 men will be available.

(Also read: Candidates seeking to repeat seats in the Chamber for Antioquia)

The act was attended by representatives of the different political parties and movements, high command of the Army and Police, mayors of several municipalities

Photo:

Government of Antioquia

The minister recalled that in Antioquia, with this second plan, there are prioritized 13 municipalities, in which work will be done with the public force to ensure security in all territories.

“Regarding electoral transparency, cases of campaign financing, illicit money, promoting non-stigmatization and non-violence will be followed up,” said Minister Palacio.

Regarding the protection schemes, the official said that more than 1.3 billion pesos are available for the National Protection Unit, to carry out these activities.

(We recommend you read: Women candidates for Congress from Antioquia seek to achieve more seats)

Of all the candidates for the Senate at the national level, 16% have a protection measure, 12% of the candidates for the Chamber and the 19 candidates for the Presidency

In this, progress has been made so that 60% of the candidates for the peace seats have protection.

“It is important to mention that, of all the candidates for the Senate at the national level, 16% have a protection measure12% of the candidates for the Chamber and the 19 candidates for the Presidency,” added the official.

He pointed out that they will work hand in hand with the Government and the mayors to strengthen public order measures.

For his part, the National Registrar of Civil Status, Alexander Vega Rocha, stated that the electoral census for Antioquia is greater than 5 million of citizens who can vote.

“We will have 123 more voting stations compared to the last elections, which are 1,260 more tables in the territory and there will be greater accessibility to voting,” Vega said.

(Keep reading: Car that fell into Cauca with family on board will not be removed from the river)

For Governor Aníbal Gaviria Correa, the increase in tables is remarkable, as well as the facilities that the new ballots have, “elements that make this electoral process guarantee us the possibility of having a greater vote, thanks to greater voter access. Today we have been given very important and official information on all the figures in Antioquia for this process,” said the departmental president.

MEDELLIN

Rural schools in Sucre, without guarantees to return to classes due to covid - Other Cities - Colombia

For the Association of Educators of Sucre -Ades-, the Educational Institutions of the 26 municipalities of Sucre They do not have biosafety guarantees for the health of teachers, students and managers in relation to covid-19.

This was expressed by the president of the association, Ubaldo Corrales, who, accompanied by other officials of the entity, toured the towns and were able to see first-hand what they are facing.

(Also: Blinded by jealousy, nurse attacked young man with a scalpel)

“What we verified is that in the vast majority of Educational Institutions there is not even water, the sanitary units are not in the best conditions and in some establishments these modules, in relation to the number of students they have, are not enough to house them” , He said.

Biosecurity is not possible

Who is going to provide masks, liquid soap, disposable towels, everything that is needed to maintain minimal biosecurity

He pointed out that it is also necessary to draw the attention of local leaders, mayors and governors, because the Ministry of Health no longer talks about biosafety elements.

“Who is going to provide masks, liquid soap, disposable towels, everything that is needed to maintain biosecurity at a minimum,” he said.

(Also: Outrage over the death of a dog run over by a congressman’s caravan)

He specified that they are going to return to the Educational Institutions requesting the rectors and directors, that where the conditions are not met, they pronounce themselves in writing to the Secretary of Education, with a copy to the Attorney General’s Office, the Comptroller’s Office and control entities in general.

“We have to save responsibilities, because things could be presented to regret,” said the president of the Ades, “he said.

we have to go back

… they must review the context of the school and in that sense see if there are, or not, the conditions for the return when it is in a fourth peak of the pandemic

The president of the Ubaldo Corrales Teachers’ Association stated that beyond any situation the idea is to return to the classrooms in Educational Institutions.

“From educational establishments, direct councils, parent associations, teachers and directors themselves must review the context of the school and in that sense see if there are, or not, the conditions for the return when it is in a fourth peak of the pandemic,” he noted.

(You may be interested: This is the Support Network between Police and Rappi homes in Barranquilla)

He requested that anomalies be notified through a statement so that a commission from the Secretaries and the Ministry reviews the education entities and checks their status.

No water in Sucre schools

There are schools that have a tank for
sink of 20 liters of water, with 800 students

There must be sinks, liquid soap, minimal things and here most of the establishments in the rural areas of Sucre and Sincelejo do not have those conditions.

The president of the union expressed that it is not about making objections at this time, but about having the minimum conditions, because an Educational Institution without water cannot guarantee hand washing, disinfection of sanitary units, when the student will be 100 percent in face-to-face classes.

“There must be sinks, liquid soap, minimal things and here most of the establishments in the rural areas of Sucre and Sincelejo do not have those conditions. We are not asking to demolish and build a new school, we only ask for adaptations”, he pointed out.

(You may be interested in: Indigenous boy dies drowned on the beach of Tayrona Park)

He explained that there are schools that have a sink tank of 20 liters of water, with 800 students.

“At what time will the curricular work be given? These are situations that occur at a time of a fourth peak of the covid-19 pandemic”, he indicated.
He asked parents to review the environment where their children are studying.

Francis Xavier Barrios
Special for WEATHER
sincelejo

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