I'M SHOCKED, SHOCKED – AT 9:14 A.M. ET:  The nuclear talks with Iran have apparently run into trouble.   But don't worry.  Obama will find a way to give in to Iran to make them smile again.  He is so skilled.  From Fox: 

A dispute over when international sanctions against Iran would be lifted following a potential nuclear agreement reportedly is the latest issue to bog down negotiations.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Iran's negotiators say that sanctions must be lifted almost immediately after a deal is concluded. U.S. and European diplomats, for their part, hold that sanctions should only be lifted once Tehran accounts for its past nuclear activity and is confirmed to be using nuclear energy for peaceful means by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog.

One European diplomat was quoted by the Journal as saying there was "no way" Western negotiators would budge from their position, which the diplomat said the Iranians considered a "deal-breaker. They don't want it at all."

The Europeans, especially the French, are tougher on Iran than we are. 

According to the paper, both sides believe that the U.S. and European Union can lift some of the sanctions each has unilaterally imposed on Iran's energy and finance sectors. However, the issue of lifting sanctions imposed by the U.N. is more complex and according to negotiators, is likely to take years, not weeks or months, to accomplish.

For its part, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says that Iran has failed to turn over key documents about its nuclear program, and has also denied access to scientists and nuclear sites.

Both sides are working to meet a March 31 deadline to construct the framework of a permanent agreement. The final deadline for all the details to be worked out is June 30. On Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met face-to-face for the fourth straight day in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The Associated Press reported late Thursday that elements of a draft deal had been agreed that would commit Iran to a 40 percent cut in the number of machines it could use to make an atomic bomb. In return, the Iranians would get quick relief from some crippling economic sanctions and a partial lift of a U.N. embargo on conventional arms.

COMMENT:  Such a deal would be pathetic, allowing Iran to still have 60% of the centrifuges it now has.  And we have not been assured that all the terms of the deal would be made public.  Millions of lives are potentially involved here, yet the matter is being handled like some back-room Chicago political deal.

March 20,  2015