Iran strikes harder line in nuclear talks, says previous terms a ‘draft’
Iran struck a hard line Tuesday after just one day of restarted talks in Vienna over its tattered nuclear deal, suggesting everything discussed in previous rounds of diplomacy could be renegotiated. Speaking to Iranian state television, Ali Bagheri, Iran’s top negotiator, referred to everything discussed thus far as a “draft.” It remained unclear whether that represented an opening gambit or signaled serious trouble for those hoping to restore a 2015 deal that saw Tehran limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions.
The United States left the deal in 2018. Since the deal’s collapse, Iran now enriches small amounts of uranium up to 60% purity — a short step from weapons-grade levels of 90%. Iran also spins advanced centrifuges barred by the accord, and its uranium stockpile far exceeds the accord’s limits. President Joe Biden has said the U.S. is willing to reenter the deal, though the negotiations continue with U.S. officials not in the room, as in previous rounds of talks since Washington’s withdrawal.
November delivers another hit to sinking consumer confidence
U.S. consumer confidence fell to a nine-month low in November, clipped by rising prices and concern about the coronavirus, the Conference Board reported.
The survey was completed Nov. 19 and would not include ramifications of omicron, a new coronavirus variant that has begun to spread with few solid answers about the damage it might do to the U.S. economy.
U.S. removes foreign terrorist designation for Colombia’s FARC
The Biden administration removed the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, from a list of designated foreign terrorist organizations in an effort to support the country’s peace process five years after the end of a decades-long conflict, the State Department said.
The move was hailed by many in Colombia as a step that will allow the U.S. to work on peace-building programs involving ex-combatants from the now-demobilized group, but it was blasted by some U.S. politicians who accused the Biden administration of siding with a rebel group that terrorized Colombia with kidnappings, bombings and other attacks.
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