Kerry warns France against doing business with Iran

[bananas]

Source: The Hill

Secretary of State John Kerry warned France on Wednesday that its businesses will be sanctioned if they try to do business with Iran.

Kerry issued the warning in a wide-ranging interview with CNN on Wednesday after 100 French companies traveled to Iran’s capital this week to do business.

“While the French may send some businesspeople over there, they're not able to contravene the sanctions,” he said. “They will be sanctioned if they do and they know it. And we've put them on notice.”

Kerry called French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius this week to say the visit to Tehran was “not helpful,” according to Wendy Sherman, under-secretary of State for political affairs.

“Tehran is not open for business because our sanctions relief is quite temporary, quite limited and quite targeted,” Sherman told members of Congress on Tuesday.

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Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/middle-east-north-africa/197579-kerry-warns-france-against-doing-business-with

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These are very difficult negotiations, Kerry is one of the few people who could pull it off.
Even Obama only gives it a 50-50 chance of success.

[Capt. Obvious]

1. We're not afraid to rename fries again

[Javaman]

5. +1 nt

[marmar]

2. To the rest of the world, the U.S. is starting to sound like the adults on Charlie Brown cartoons...

"Wah wah, wah wah, wah wah"

[Coyotl]

3. He's not our diplomat it seems, he's our Chief of Global Police!

And it also seems Kerry is diminishing chances of success in negotiating with Iran.

[HoosierCowboy]

4. Sorry Mr. Secretary...

....Ollie North, Don Rumsfeld & Company did a stopover in Paris before they did Iran Contra.

[reddread]

10. along with Mrs. Kerry's late husband

tightly knit circle there, dont tug any threads, it might come undone.

[ladjf]

6. Oh no. Not this again.

Mr. Secretary, France needs no advice from the U.S.

[warrant46]

7. Kerry---C’est vraiment des conneries

[ladjf]

8. Vous avez raison. nt

[warrant46]

9. +1 N/T

[okaawhatever]

12. Good for him. This isn't the French Government but rather businessmen and women from France who

are trying to make money and will tank the talks with their own greed. There is so much at stake here, the last thing anyone needs is a bunch of business people trying to usurp the diplomatic process. (That's business people from all countries). The very large French contingent makes them look desperate and opportunistic, IMHO.

From the Telegraph:

The spectacle of European business delegations visiting Tehran barely two months after the Geneva agreement supports Israel’s view that any easing of sanctions will end up reducing the pressure on Iran’s economy by more than America wants. This could reduce America’s bargaining power over Iran, making a final settlement of the nuclear issue harder to achieve.

In theory, a final agreement should succeed the Geneva accord by July 20. In reality, experts believe that any such settlement would be exceptionally difficult to achieve, even if the pressure on Iran’s economy is sustained.

”I think it’s doubtful that the parties will be able to achieve a comprehensive deal given the deep differences between them,” said Mark Fitzpatrick, a non-proliferation specialist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/10620096/US-warns-France-over-its-trade-mission-to-sanctioned-Iran.html