International
Blinken says new Russia demands on Iran nuclear deal ‘irrelevant’
AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday dismissed as “irrelevant” Russian demands for guarantees that new sanctions linked to Ukraine will not affect Moscow’s rights under a reworked Iran nuclear deal.
With the parties to the Iran agreement, which the US abandoned in 2018, now seemingly close to a new accord, Blinken rejected fresh demands voiced Saturday by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
The sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine “have nothing to do with the Iran nuclear deal,” Blinken said on CBS talk show “Face the Nation.”
They “just are not in any way linked together, so I think that’s irrelevant,” he said, speaking from Moldova, a small country on Ukraine’s southwest border.
Blinken said it was not only in America’s interest but Russia’s as well that Iran not be able “to have a nuclear weapon or the capacity to produce a weapon on very, very short order.”
The latest Russian reservations, coming amid the intense crisis over Ukraine, threaten hopes that an Iran agreement could be wrapped up quickly.
Iran and the United Nations nuclear watchdog had announced early Saturday that they agreed on an approach for resolving issues crucial to reviving the country’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers.
Rafael Grossi, chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in Vienna that while the UN agency and Iran had yet to resolve “a number of important matters,” they had now “decided to try a practical, pragmatic approach” to overcome them.
However, Grossi said there was “no artificial deadline.”
Britain, one of the parties to the parallel talks on the nuclear accord in Vienna, indicated Friday that an agreement was close.
But Lavrov said Saturday that Moscow, itself slapped with severe sanctions over its invasion of Ukraine, needed guarantees before backing the nuclear deal.
He said Russia wanted written guarantees from the United States that Ukraine-related sanctions “will not in any way harm our rights to free, fully fledged trade and economic and investment cooperation, military-technical cooperation with Iran.”
Russia is party to the talks in Vienna along with Britain, China, France and Germany. The United States is participating indirectly.
International
Merengue concert turns to mourning as Jet Set collapse claims 136 lives
Dominican rescue teams will end search and recovery operations on Wednesday, April 9, 2025, at the Jet Set nightclubin Santo Domingo, where the building collapsed during a live concert.
Authorities estimate that the final 20 bodies will be recovered from the rubble today, bringing the official death toll to 136. This includes 12 additional bodies found overnight in the disaster zone, adding to the previously confirmed 124 fatalities.
Outside the collapsed nightclub, desperate relatives of the missing continue to gather, clinging to hope for news. Many also visited nearby hospitals and morgues in search of their loved ones.
A list of confirmed victims has been posted on a tent set up near the site, where the bodies are being transferred for identification.
The tragedy occurred during a performance by renowned merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who was among the deceased.
Central America
Colombia to host fourth EU-CELAC Summit in November
The Fourth Summit between the European Union (EU) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) will take place on November 9 and 10 in Santa Marta, Colombia, according to a joint statement released Wednesday by the Colombian government and the European Council.
The summit will be co-chaired by Colombian President Gustavo Petro, in his role as pro tempore president of CELAC, and European Council President António Costa, the statement added.
The last EU-CELAC summit took place in July 2023 in Brussels, when both blocs agreed to hold these meetings every two years.
The summit brings together the 27 EU member states and the 33 CELAC countries, representing 14% of the global population, 21% of global GDP, and one-third of the members of the United Nations, the communiqué noted.
International
Russia and US to Meet in Istanbul for Diplomatic Talks on April 10
The Kremlin confirmed today a forthcoming meeting with the United States to discuss the normalization of diplomatic relations, which will take place in Istanbul.
“Our participation will be through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Dmitry Peskov, the presidential spokesperson, during his daily telephone press conference.
Peskov was responding to a question about who would represent Russia in the new round of negotiations, which is supposedly scheduled for April 10.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that the delegations will be led by the Russian ambassador to the U.S., Alexandr Darchiev, and the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State, Sonata Coulter.
These are the same negotiators who met in late February in Istanbul, where the expert-level negotiation format was the same, according to the source.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov had said a few days ago that the next meeting would be held in the Turkish city, though he did not confirm a date.
Lavrov, who participated in only one of these meetings, clarified that the upcoming discussions would address the issues still dividing Moscow and Washington diplomatically, referring to the operations of both countries’ embassies.
The Kremlin asserted that Washington has not yet responded to Russia’s security concerns, preventing a ceasefire declaration on land, sea, and air.
Meanwhile, Trump expressed discontent with Russia’s recent attacks, including one last week that killed 20 people in Krivi Rig, the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
So far, Russia has rejected a cessation of hostilities and only declared a 30-day ceasefire on March 18 against attacks on energy infrastructure, which was extended by Kyiv a week later.
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