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Lavrov: Iran agrees to halt 20-percent uranium enrichment. West must lift sanctions

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov

DEBKAfile Special Report Jun 18, 2013, 6:00 PM (IDT)

Iran confirms it is prepared to halt enrichment of 20-percent uranium, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported Tuesday, June 18. He urged Western nations to reciprocate by lifting sanctions.DEBKAfile: It was not clear whether this is a temporary or absolute stoppage - or a dodge for getting sanctions eased to help the new Iranian president find his economic feet. Jerusalem was not convinced by Lavrov’s arguments because Iran has accumulated enough low-grade 5.3 percent uranium for rapid conversion to 20 percent.

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Qatari Shake-up Anoints Gulf’s Youngest Ruler

Sheikh Tamim’s wavering record on US ties has Washington worried.

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Russian Ready to Stall US Action in Syria

Barack Obama left it too late to deny Russia and Iran profit from Assad’s victory.

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Aleppo Was Last US Window for Influencing Syrian War

Obama rejected the only action that could have stalled the Syrian army’s last big push.

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Barack Obama | Israel | Syria | Bashar Assad | Hizballah | Binyamin Netanyahu | Iran | Iran nuclear

First European & NATO heavy arms for Syrian rebels. Russian reprisal expected

At odds on Syria

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
Jun 18, 2013, 9:55 AM (IDT)

DEBKAfile exclusive: In the last 48 hours, Europeans and NATO have delivered to the Syrian rebels shipments of the long-demanded anti-air and tank missiles as well as recoilless 120 mm cannons.They landed in Turkey and Jordan and were transferred to southern Syria and Aleppo, where Syrian rebels are poised to fend off a major Syrian army offensive backed by 2,000 Hizballah troops. Accordingly, the Obama-Putin meeting went badly at the G8 summit in Northern Ireland. Widely expected Russian reprisals portend a longer Syrian war.

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