Iran deal draws mixed reactions; Japan and China in airspace dispute; protesters march through Bangkok demanding PM's resignation; Egypt passes law to regulate protests; Swiss vote against executive pay cap; and more
Top of the Agenda: Mixed Reactions Over Iran Deal
An interim deal that curbs Iran's nuclear program in return for limited relief from sanctions was reached in Geneva on Sunday, marking a turning point in relations between Tehran and Washington and a starting point for a final accord that would settle all doubts about the program (Reuters). Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to call the deal a "historic mistake" that would make the world "a much more dangerous place." Arab allies of the United States in the Gulf praised the agreement, with Saudi Arabia remaining silent (al-Jazeera). The mood was jubilant in Tehran, where hundreds of cheering supporters greeted Iran's negotiators. Iran's President Rouhani said in a national broadcast that his country's "right to enrichment has been recognized," an assessment that was disputed by Washington (BBC).
Analysis
"The real question to be considered surrounds not the interim accord just completed but the follow-on or 'comprehensive' agreement to come. The announced aim is to finish negotiating and begin implementing such a pact within a year. The incentive for Iran is obvious: the agreed upon wording promises the end of all nuclear-related sanctions," CFR President Richard Haass writes in the Financial Times.
"What was the price? We shredded the six United Nations Security Council resolutions that ordered the Islamic Republic to abandon all enrichment and reprocessing activities. We exposed fractures in the coalition against Iran. And we started building a global economic lobby that is dedicated to eroding the sanctions that we have generated through a decade of hard, very hard, diplomatic work," writes Michael Doran, senior fellow at Brookings.
"Strategic pauses are fine, but actual dismantling? It seems hard to believe, for any number of reasons, the simplest one being that it is in the best long-term interest of the regime to have the means to quickly build a nuclear weapon. It's certainly not in the interest of the regime to agree to be disarmed by the U.S., its arch-enemy and the country still often referred to as the Great Satan," writes Jeffrey Goldberg for Bloomberg.
PACIFIC RIM
Japan, China in Airspace Dispute
The Chinese defense ministry said it would establish an "air defense identification zone" over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea that are also claimed by Japan, raising concerns of an escalation of the long-standing territorial dispute between the two Asian powers (Bloomberg).
This CFR InfoGuide examines maritime disputes in the South and East China Seas.
THAILAND: Thousands of protestors marched through Bangkok on Monday, a day after staging the biggest demonstrations since 2010, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra (Hindu).
ELSEWHERE:
Egypt passes law to regulate protests
Swiss vote against executive pay cap
This is an excerpt of the CFR.org Daily News Brief. The full version is available on CFR.org.