One PA official stated that Netanyahu was now apparently ready to recognize the pre-1967 borders as the basis for future talks and was ready to swap territory between the two countries. He added, “We’re beginning to hear new things from Israel. For the first time an Israeli government is willing to negotiate with us on the basis of the 1967 borders, and this is an encouraging move.”
“Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians could be relaunched as early as February,” added another PA official in Ramallah.
Meanwhile, Egyptian sources told the Cairo-based daily Al-Ahram on Monday that Barack Obama’s administration will put forward a plan whereby Israel would commit itself to the establishment of a Palestinian state within two years of the launch of peace talks with the Palestinian Authority. Read the rest of this entry »
The Associated Press reports that Iran is close to clinching a deal to clandestinely import 1,350 tons of purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan.
The report was prepared by a member nation of the International Atomic Energy Agency and given to AP on the condition that the country not be identified because of the confidential nature of the information.
The reports claims Teheran is willing to pay $450 million for the shipment and added that “the price is high because of the secret nature of the deal and due to Iran’s commitment to keep secret the elements supplying the material”.
Clandestine imports are banned by the UN Security Council, and Iran is currently under sanctions that ban the importat of all items, materials, equipment, goods, and technology that could contribute to its enrichment activities. Read the rest of this entry »
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Municipal Planning Committee approved the construction plan for an additional 900 new housing units beyond the Green Line in Jerusalem.
We are dismayed at the Jerusalem Planning Committee’s decision to move forward on the approval process for the expansion of Gilo in Jerusalem. At a time when we are working to re-launch negotiations, these actions make it more difficult for our efforts to succeed. Neither party should engage in efforts or take actions that could unilaterally pre-empt, or appear to pre-empt, negotiations. The U.S. also objects to other Israeli practices in Jerusalem related to housing, including the continuing pattern of evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes. Our position is clear: the status of Jerusalem is a permanent status issue that must be resolved through negotiations between the parties.
On Monday, soon after the Palestinian proposal for an unilateral declaration of statehood via the United Nations Security Council, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly stated that Washington would not support the plan, as it is seeking a two-state solution through negotiations.
U.S. senators visiting Israel said that Washington would veto a Palestinian declaration . For instance, Democratic Senator Ted Kaufman said, “It would be dead on arrival. It’s a waste of time,” and Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman added, “An essentially unilateral declaration of statehood is the one thing that will not move the stalled peace process forward.”
Contrary to initial reports from the US, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did get his private meeting with President Obama in Washington, with discussions on the Iranian nuclear programme and the Middle East peace talks. The White House headline statement was, “The president reaffirmed our strong commitment to Israel’s security, and discussed security cooperation on a range of issues.”
The problem for the Obama Administration is that journalists were unwilling to let “security cooperation” stand in place of other issues. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly was forced to hand trickier problems back to the White House:
QUESTION: On the peace process, is Senator Mitchell planning to go back to the Middle East, and what are you planning to do after the latest development on the Palestinian side?
MR. KELLY: Well, I think a lot of the focus today, of course, will be on the visit of Prime Minister Netanyahu. He’s meeting with the President tonight. We remain committed to our goal, which is the re-launch of negotiations between the sides and try and create the kind of atmosphere where these negotiations can succeed as soon as possible. As far as Senator Mitchell’s immediate plans, I’m not sure that he has plans in the very near term to return to the region. But of course, he’ll be ready to do so if that can be helpful.
1935 GMT: A Note from the Media Fair. As the rumors and discussion continue over the events and protests of the week, another incident, reported by the Iranian Labor News Agency and passed on by an EA correspondent:
A stand for the “Wave of Law” website (a deliberate twist of the term “Green Wave”) was dismantled at the press exhibition in Tehran for collecting signatures for a petition seeking a complaint against Mir Hosein Moussavi. The stand faced reluctance from exhibition visitors.
Permission to set up the stand for this new website was given in circumstances in which eligible applicants had been refused. Warnings from the organizers of the Tehran Press Fair were instrumental in the stand’s ejection.
1920 GMT: The reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front has intervened again with an open letter to the former prosecutor of Tehran, judges, Revolutionary Guard, and the Ministry of Intelligence:
We do not open this letter with “greetings”, as it is a symbol of all that you and your colleagues have denied us and those like us….The mass assault of the agents of the former Tehran prosecutor on the central office of the Participation Front, the election headquarters, and newspapers as well as the mass arrest of the members of the Participation Front, other political, and media activists happened not long ago, and the wave of arrests still continue.
This time you and your colleagues have created a new wonder. Thirty years after the establishment of the “Islamic” system, you silenced the “O God! O God!” prayer in the throats of this nation’s sons and daughters and the innocent families of [political] prisoners by your weapons and handcuffs. We remind you of this because it is the duty of every Muslim to stop their religious brothers and sisters from committing bad deeds that we hope are not being committed deliberately and knowingly but rather unintentionally and under pressure.
Before it is too late come to your senses and don’t be the tools of oppression for the tyrant masters of power. Someday that God willing is coming and is not too far away, they will be too caught up as the results of their words and actions to be able to help you.
1715 GMT: We haven’t forgotten you. It is just a relatively quiet period in Iran, and we’re heading out to catch up with friends and colleagues. Back later to round up the day’s events.
1530 GMT: Saturday Football Story. Looks like the Green wave has made it into a photo of the Iran national team on the Press TV website — see separate entry.
1455 GMT: The Curious Development with the Nuclear Deal. Something very strange is happening as the Iranian Government deliberates whether to accept the Vienna proposal on uranium enrichment.
2000 GMT: We’ve posted updates on today’s Vienna talks on Iran’s nuclear programme in a separate entry.
1950 GMT: Now that the Iranian press has announced the sentencing of Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh (see 1620 GMT), the State Department has commented with further details. Spokesman Ian Kelly said that Tajbakhsh had been given 15 years in prison, clarifying the “more than 12 years” in Iranian reports. Kelly added that the US was “deeply concerned”:
Mr. Tajbakhsh poses no threat to the Iranian government or its national security. Given the groundless nature of charges against him we call on Iran to grant his immediate release. As an independent, internationally respected academic, Mr. Tajbakhsh has always sought to foster better understanding between Iran and the United States and Iran and the international community.
1800 GMT: Great Moments in Journalism. Press TV devotes several paragraphs to the “hundreds of Iranian students [who] gathered in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy to protest the Kingdom’s policies towards Muslims” but somehow has failed to notice the thousands of students who protested at Iranian universities today.
1755 GMT: Reuters reports, from Fars News, that more than 100 members of Parliament have filed a complaint with the Iranian judiciary against opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi for “harming the image of the system”.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has reached boiling point. After the leak of a secret memorandum calling for a radical refocus of Israeli foreign policy toward the developing world, he said on Thursday that “it was not the right time to have a final peace agreement with Palestinians”.
Lieberman’s five-page memorandum is calling for a move from “lone dependence” on Washington, even if there is no replacement for Israel’s special relationship with the United States) to broader and closer ties with other world powers.
Doing this, Israel will expand ties with “neglected” parts of the world and create a “zero-tolerance” policy for anti-Semitic expression. But here’s the immediate significance: Israel will also lower international expectations of a breakthrough in negotiations with the Palestinians
For the time being, this is the only official “response” from Washington, coming when tState Department Spokesman Ian Kelly was asked about Lieberman’s statement on Israel Radio:
QUESTION: Israeli Foreign Minister Lieberman.
MR. KELLY: Foreign Minister.
QUESTION: He made this [statement] through Israeli radio – TV?
MR. KELLY: Yeah. No, I haven’t seen that. And we certainly see some urgency in moving beyond our facilitation of getting these talks started, to actually getting them started. And I know that Senator Mitchell, Special Envoy Mitchell is in the region. He met today with President Peres and with Foreign Minister Lieberman. And he’s also meeting, I think, now with Defense Minister Barak. He plans to see Prime Minister Netanyahu tomorrow, as well as Prime Minister Abbas tomorrow.
Following claims that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is close to finalizing an agreement with the Obama Administration for peace talks with the Palestinian Authority, the PA gave its approval for such talks this weekend.
On Tuesday, the Jerusalem Municipal Planning Committee 
On Monday, soon after the Palestinian proposal for an unilateral declaration of statehood via the United Nations Security Council, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly stated that Washington would not support the plan, as it is seeking a two-state solution through negotiations.
Contrary to initial reports from the US, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did get his private meeting with President Obama in Washington, with discussions on the Iranian nuclear programme and the Middle East peace talks. 
1935 GMT: A Note from the Media Fair. As the rumors and discussion continue over the events and protests of the week, another incident, reported by the Iranian Labor News Agency and passed on by an EA correspondent:
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