Washington is completing internal and external consultations on Iran's response to the European Union proposal to revive the nuclear deal, a State Department official said on Monday, confirming that Tehran has dropped its demand to remove the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps from the US list of foreign terrorist organisations.
“We are encouraged by the fact that Iran appears to have dropped some of its non-starter demands, such as lifting the FTO designation of the IRGC,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
US President Joe Biden's administration rejected that condition when it was first proposed earlier in the year.
But the US still sees “outstanding issues that must be resolved some gaps that must be bridged” for a full return to the nuclear deal, which was first signed in 2015 and placed curbs on Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief. Former president Donald Trump withdrew from the agreement in 2018.
These issues and gaps are part of the internal US deliberations, as Washington prepares its response to Iran’s latest offer.
Mr Price did not set a timeline for the response but hinted that it would happen after completing consultations with regional and other partners.
“We'll respond as soon as we have a response prepared, as soon as those consultations that we're undertaking internally, as well as with our close partners, as soon as those are completed,” he said.
Some of the issues delaying the US response appear to be technical in nature, the US official explained.
“We're looking at this and Iran's nuclear programme as a national security challenge. The questions of safeguards. This is a question that goes really to the core of the mandates of the safeguard investigations [that] are not political,” Mr Price said.
The safeguard assurances pertain to checks and balances on Iran’s nuclear materials and ensures that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has a mechanism to guarantee they remain peaceful.
In a report in June, the IAEA said Tehran has not fully declared its nuclear inventory.
Washington is currently speeding up consultations over the deal with regional and European partners. Eyal Hulata, Israel’s national security adviser, is visiting Washington this week and was due to meet Wendy Sherman, deputy secretary of state, on Monday.
“We've been discussing this [Iran’s negotiations] with our Israeli partners since day one, since going back to the start of this process in Vienna in the spring of last year, and really, before that, at every step of the process that we have been in touch with our Israeli partners to update them on where we are,” Mr Price said.
The State Department also welcomed the UAE’s announcement on Sunday that it will return its ambassador to Iran after six years of absence. Mr Price said the decision is consistent with the UAE’s policy of de-escalation.
“The UAE, across a number of issues, has demonstrated time and again that it can play a constructive role in resolving and de-escalating sources of regional tension,” he said.
State Department grilled over Iran's behaviour: 'You haven't done anything'
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
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Other key dates
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Finals draw: December 2
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Finals (including semi-finals and third-placed game): June 5–9, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-off draw: November 22, 2019
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Euro 2020 play-offs: March 26–31, 2020
List of alleged parties
May 15 2020: PM and Carrie attend 'work meeting' with at
least 17 staff members
May 20 2020: PM and Carrie attend 'bring your own booze'
party
Nov 27 2020: PM gives speech at leaving do for his staff
Dec 10 2020: Staff party held by then-education secretary
Gavin Williamson
Dec 13 2020: PM and Carrie throw a flat party
Dec 14 2020: London mayor candidate Shaun Bailey holds staff party at Conservative
Party headquarters
Dec 15 2020: PM takes part in a staff quiz
Dec 18 2020: Downing Street Christmas party
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
UNpaid bills:
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN budget in 2019
USA – $1.055 billion
Brazil – $143 million
Argentina – $52 million
Mexico – $36 million
Iran – $27 million
Israel – $18 million
Venezuela – $17 million
Korea – $10 million
Countries with largest unpaid bill for UN peacekeeping operations in 2019
USA – $2.38 billion
Brazil – $287 million
Spain – $110 million
France – $103 million
Ukraine – $100 million
PROFILE OF SWVL
Started: April 2017
Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport
Size: 450 employees
Investment: approximately $80 million
Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani
Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
Number of employees: 42 (34 in Dubai and a tech team of eight in Ankara, Turkey)
Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
Funding: Series A funding of $2.5m with Series B plans for May 2020
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-finals, first leg
Liverpool v Roma
When: April 24, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Anfield, Liverpool
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 2, Stadio Olimpico, Rome
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League quarter-final, second leg (first-leg score)
Porto (0) v Liverpool (2), Wednesday, 11pm UAE
Match is on BeIN Sports
What is an ETF?
An exchange traded fund is a type of investment fund that can be traded quickly and easily, just like stocks and shares. They come with no upfront costs aside from your brokerage's dealing charges and annual fees, which are far lower than on traditional mutual investment funds. Charges are as low as 0.03 per cent on one of the very cheapest (and most popular), Vanguard S&P 500 ETF, with the maximum around 0.75 per cent.
There is no fund manager deciding which stocks and other assets to invest in, instead they passively track their chosen index, country, region or commodity, regardless of whether it goes up or down.
The first ETF was launched as recently as 1993, but the sector boasted $5.78 billion in assets under management at the end of September as inflows hit record highs, according to the latest figures from ETFGI, a leading independent research and consultancy firm.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five largest providers BlackRock’s iShares, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisers, Deutsche Bank X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
While the best-known track major indices such as MSCI World, the S&P 500 and FTSE 100, you can also invest in specific countries or regions, large, medium or small companies, government bonds, gold, crude oil, cocoa, water, carbon, cattle, corn futures, currency shifts or even a stock market crash.
The specs
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Power: 611bhp
Torque: 620Nm
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Price: upon application
On sale: now
Correspondents
By Tim Murphy
(Grove Press)
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh317,671
On sale: now
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
The currency conundrum
Russ Mould, investment director at online trading platform AJ Bell, says almost every major currency has challenges right now. “The US has a huge budget deficit, the euro faces political friction and poor growth, sterling is bogged down by Brexit, China’s renminbi is hit by debt fears while slowing Chinese growth is hurting commodity exporters like Australia and Canada.”
Most countries now actively want a weak currency to make their exports more competitive. “China seems happy to let the renminbi drift lower, the Swiss are still running quantitative easing at full tilt and central bankers everywhere are actively talking down their currencies or offering only limited support," says Mr Mould.
This is a race to the bottom, and everybody wants to be a winner.
