think the additional time would give Israel, Persian
Gulf nations such as Saudi Arabia and congressional
critics of the administration policy a chance to delay
an accord. He said opponents had to “stop and think
what happens each day you don’t have an agreement,” referring to Iran continuing its enrichment of
uranium and the acquisition of additional centrifuges
to enrich still more uranium. Kerry believes diplomacy has to be exhausted and he alluded to the Bush
administration invasion of Iraq based on faulty intelligence that the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had
acquired weapons of mass destruction.
After three days of intense talks, capped by the lon-
gest top level negotiations in decades between the
United States and Iran, major world powers failed to
agree with Iran on an accord to rein in Tehran’s nuclear program, which many fear could lead to an atomic bomb. They agreed to hold more high-level talks
again in 10 days for another attempt to complete a
deal. Secretary of State John Kerry said an agreement
could be reached after further talks. Earlier, the European Union’s senior diplomat, Catherine Ashton,
said there had been a “lot of progress and concrete
achievements,” but “some differences remain” between the two sides. Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign
minister, said he was “not disappointed at all” with
the negotiations, because it was “a very good meeting,” and “we’re all on the same wavelength.” French
objections to a draft accord appeared to be the major
stumbling block, but the decision by French Foreign
Minister Laurent Fabius to publicly criticize the draft
in a radio interview suggested pique with the United
States, Britain and Germany over the preparations for
the talks. Asked if the United States was “blindsided”
by Fabius, Kerry said the US worked very closely with
France and that the language concerning a reactor
Iran is building at Arak had been “bracketed” pending
clarification in the talks. Kerry said he did not
The Navy suspended access to classified material for
two admirals who run Navy intelligence operations
because of their alleged ties to the head of a Singapore-based company at the center of a widening
Navy scandal. The unusual restrictions were placed
upon Vice Adm. Ted Branch, director of Naval Intelligence, and Rear Adm. Bruce Loveless, head of Navy
intelligence operations, because of their alleged “improper relations” with Leonard Francis, CEO of Glenn
Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), said Rear Adm. John F.
Kirby, Navy chief of information. The measures against
the admirals were taken three days after Cmdr. Jose
Luis Sanchez appeared in federal court in Florida on
charges of having accepted $100,000 in bribes, luxury trips and sessions with prostitutes from Francis.
Francis was arrested Sept. 16 in San Diego. His firm
provides fuel, food, water, cleaning and other services to Navy ships throughout Asia and in California.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has directed the US
Pacific Command to support humanitarian relief operations in the Philippines after one of the most powerful storms ever devastated the island nation. Hagel
dispatched American ships and planes at the request
of the Philippine government, which now faces a
months-long recovery from Typhoon Haiyan. At least
10,000 people were feared dead from the storm that
struck last Friday with 150 mph winds and 40-foot
waves.