Israel has brokered a deal to end Palestinian terrorist hunger strikes in their jails.
A second set of negotiations in Vienna is preceding a third set in Baghdad, with Iran, about their Nuclear weapons program, and after Obama's declaration that the prior Istanbul talks were Iran's last chance to come clean.
Syria continues to stack up the dead bodies of its people as more UN monitors arrive to watch the carnage.
Ahead of the opening session between the two sides in Vienna Monday, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency delegation, Hermann Nackaerts, told reporters that they were continuing their dialogue with Iran in “a positive spirit.”
One major issue on the agenda for the two days of talks is the IAEA's lack of access to Iran's Parchin military site near Tehran.
Officials suspect Iran has built a container that could house nuclear explosives tests there, and Western diplomats accuse Tehran of trying to remove incriminating evidence before allowing U.N. inspectors inside the facility. Iran has dismissed the allegations as being “childish” and “ridiculous.”
The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany are following the Vienna meeting closely, ahead of their talks next week with Iranian officials in Baghdad. The so-called P5+1 countries – in addition to Germany, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – are seeking to assess the possible military capability of Iran's nuclear sites.
Western powers have long suspected Iran of seeking to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of a civilian energy program. Tehran denies the allegations.
Mark Fitzpatrick of the International Institute for Strategic Studies tells VOA that he expects Iran to continue stonewalling the IAEA, which he says could “cast a pall” over the Baghdad meeting.
But if Tehran cooperates with the U.N. agency, Fitzpatrick says there is reason to hope that some sort of interim agreement might emerge from Baghdad that could “at least lower the [political] temperature.” He says this could alleviate the “great pressure” Iran has been feeling under multiple rounds of international sanctions.
On Monday, The Washington Post newspaper quoted unnamed U.S. officials as saying Iran has been routinely switching off satellite tracking systems on its oil tankers since early April in an effort to circumvent sanctions. The tactics are only modestly effective in hiding the massive tankers. Iran relies on oil exports for the majority of its foreign currency earnings.
The newspaper reports that the International Energy Agency is closely watching the situation, which if true, also would be a violation of maritime law.
Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have agreed to end a weeks-long hunger strike in exchange for promises of better conditions, averting fears of widespread unrest if any of the inmates had died.
Israel Prisons Service spokeswoman Sivan Weizman confirmed late Monday that a deal had been reached. Egypt and Jordan played key roles in mediating between the Israelis and prison leaders representing all Palestinian factions.
The Palestinians won key concessions, including more family visits and limits to a controversial Israeli policy that can imprison people for years without charge.
The agreement also saw roughly 20 prisoners released from solitary confinement back into the general prison population. These include Hamas terrorist Abdullah al-Barghouthi, serving 67 life sentences for helping to plan a series of suicide bombings that killed scores of civilians.
In return, Israel extracted pledges by terrorist groups “to prevent terror activities,” and averted the potentially explosive scenario of prisoners dying in a hunger strike.
Israel's Shin Bet security agency said Monday the prisoners committed themselves to stop helping plan and conduct attacks from inside Israeli jails through networks that enable contact with the outside world. It said renewed violence or resumed prisoner strikes would “annul the Israeli commitment.”
Both sides were eager to reach an agreement before Tuesday, when Palestinians have planned mass demonstrations to commemorate a day they call the “nakba,” or catastrophe, of Israel's 1948 Declaration of Independence.
The hunger strike garnered widespread support among Palestinians, with hundreds joining daily marches and sit-in protests.
Outside mediation was necessary because many of the striking prisoners were associated with groups that Israel has no direct contact with, including Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, and the even more militant Islamic Jihad.
The mass action was sparked by Khader Adnan, an Islamic Jihad spokesman who fasted for 66 days this year to demand his release from incarceration without charge. He ended his fast after Israeli authorities agreed to release him a few weeks early.
The two longest strikers, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh, have said they would not start eating again until their administrative detentions are lifted. They have survived by occasionally taking infusions of nutrients. Both are Islamic Jihad terrrorists.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said last week the death of a hunger striker could be “disastrous,” triggering a backlash that could lead to the collapse of the West Bank's security system.
Activists say Syrian rebels killed 23 soldiers in clashes near the city of Rastan, in one of the deadliest days for loyalist forces in the country's 14-month, anti-government uprising.
Monday's fighting broke out after the town, about 25 kilometers north of Homs, suffered heavy shelling from the Syrian army. Several people were wounded and several army vehicles destroyed during the clashes.
The fighting further undercut a month-old cease-fire that has been strained by consistent clashes between rebels and government forces and attacks on civilians by Syrian troops. Nearly 200 United Nations monitors are in Syria watching the violence.
The United States, Europe and Gulf Arab states want Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, but his ally Russia has blocked more robust action against Syria in the U.N. Security Council and international politicians have demonstrated little resolve beyond talking harshly about talking harshly.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov defended Moscow's weapons deliveries to Syria in the face of Western criticism, saying government forces need to defend themselves against rebels receiving arms from abroad.
In Brussels, the European Union extended visa bans and asset freezes Monday on three new people and two entities associated with the Syrian government. The EU boycott list now includes 128 Assad supporters and 43 Syrian companies, banks and other organizations.
Meanwhile, sectarian violence stemming from the Syrian conflict continued to spill over into neighboring Lebanon for a third straight day Monday. At least five people have been killed and 100 wounded in the port of Tripoli – Lebanon's second largest city – since gunbattles erupted late Saturday.
The recent clashes were sparked by last week's arrest of Lebanese national Shadi Mawlawi, an outspoken critic of Mr. Assad, who was charged with belonging to an armed terrorist group.
On Sunday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 25 people – 18 civilians, five soldiers and two anti-government rebels – were killed as violence ripped through various Syrian flashpoint areas.
The U.N. says more than 9,000 have died in the 14-month conflict. Violence by Mr. Assad's forces and his armed foes has continued despite an April 12 cease-fire and the presence of a U.N. monitoring mission.
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