US, Iran forge new relationship as nuke deal advances

Iran could comply with last summer’s nuclear deal as early as Friday or this weekend, officials said, requiring the United States and other nations to immediately suspend billions of dollars’ worth of economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Iran’s detention of 10 US sailors on Tuesday set off a furious round of meetings in both Washington and Tehran.

Since Jan. 1, Kerry and Zarif have spoken by phone at least 11 times.

He will meet Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister in the British capital.

The drama in the Gulf, which the USA government had initially hoped to keep under wraps, became public knowledge just hours before President Barack Obama was due to give his annual State of the Union address in Congress. “Let’s learn from this latest example”.

Both the USA and Iran touted the swift resolution of the incident-the sailors were released less than 24 hours after they were detained-as a product of the closer ties they have built in the negotiating of the Iranian nuclear deal and a potential model for the future. Also unknown is how determined major Western firms, in particular, will be given the risk of “snapback” sanctions if Iran violates the deal and the history of USA penalties against European banks that have previously conducted business with Iran.

While Iran says it will need $100bn to rebuild its energy industry and another $29bn for mining and steel, foreign investors are expected to return only gradually as they wait to make sure the nuclear deal holds. They’re trading accusations over the war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led intervention hasn’t uprooted the Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

Cotton said the nuclear deal would “embolden” Iranian aggression toward the USA and its allies.

On the eve of the trip, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said “they’ll discuss a range of issues, bilateral and global issues, including obviously Iran and the ongoing crisis in Syria”.

After a series of follow-up conversations with Carter, Dunford and Rice, Kerry spoke to Zarif again at 2:00 p.m., followed by another call around 3:15 p.m. It was during that second call that Zarif told Kerry he was getting indications from those holding the sailors that they would be released at some point after dawn, and were being fed and well treated. Iranian hardliners have criticized him for overstepping his limited mandate to speak with Kerry about nuclear matters.

The conversations are likely to broaden, even though the US still considers Iran the leading state sponsor of terrorism and Iranian officials routinely denounce a nation they sometimes call “the Great Satan”.

“It is clear that today this kind of issue was able to be peacefully resolved and officially resolved and that is a testament to the critical role that diplomacy plays in keeping our country safe, secure and strong”, said John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State.