ANOTHER DEADLINE PASSING – AT 9:51 A.M. ET:  We were supposed to have a general nuclear agreement with Iran by March 24th.  And this is after an extension of the last round of talks.  Not so fast, say the Iranians.  Not so fast at all.  From AFP:   

Mohammad Javad Zarif, in talks in Switzerland with US Secretary of State John Kerry since Monday, said other foreign ministers from world powers involved in the negotiations were unlikely to join them for now.

The arrival of the foreign ministers of Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany in Lausanne — joining their political directors — could indicate that a long-elusive deal might be at hand.

“I don’t think their presence will be needed in this round,” Zarif told Iranian state media from the Swiss lakeside city.

“When the solutions are found and we approach a deal, then all the foreign ministers of the negotiating parties should come,” he said.

As a result the negotiations will likely have to continue into next week or resume then after a break.

Iran and the six powers have been seeking in months of talks to transform an interim deal struck in November 2013 into a lasting accord that they hope will convince the world that Iran is not about to develop nuclear weapons.

Such an agreement would involve Iran scaling down its nuclear activities to within strict limits in exchange for relief from painful sanctions after 12 years of rising tensions over its atomic program.

Two earlier target dates last July and then again in November were missed, but experts say that the new deadline — March 31 for a framework deal, July 1 for the full deal — has to be met.

It is however far from certain that they will manage to get a deal, with both sides warning of disagreements on key issues, principally the future size of Iran’s program and the timing of easing sanctions.

COMMENT:  Same old, same old.  And each day that passes brings Iran closer to a nuclear bomb.  In addition, some of our allies, especially France, are actually looking at any proposed deal with two eyes.  In part, we can thank Bibi Netanyahu for that.  He alerted the world to the danger, and at least a part of the world listened.

March 19, 2015