The White House and Iran have secretly agreed to hold one-on-one talks over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program after the election, The New York Times reported. Citing unnamed administration officials, the Times said that the two countries had agreed “in principle” to direct negotiations—an indication that stringent economic sanctions are weakening the regime’s resolve to defy the world on its nuclear program. President Obama dismissed the report as “not true,” and Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi denied “any discussions or negotiations with America.” But Times executive editor Jill Abramson stood by the reporting and insisted the story was “solid and true.”
“We’ll go with The New York Times on this one,” said The Wall Street Journal in an editorial. A top administration official probably hoped news of this deal would boost Obama’s reputation with voters as a “peacemaker.” But what the leak really shows is the president’s incredible naïveté. The mullahs made this bow to diplomacy just to buy more time and “get still closer to having a bomb.” They’ve made four years of progress on this president’s watch, and will get four more if he’s re-elected.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Putin’s threat to fracture Ukrainefeature Fears that Russia was building a pretext for an invasion of eastern Ukraine grew, as pro-Kremlin protesters occupied government buildings in three cities.
-
Curbing NSA surveillance
feature The White House said it will propose a broad overhaul of the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program.
-
Downsizing the military
feature A new budget plan for the Pentagon would save hundreds of billions of dollars by taking the military off its post-9/11 war footing.
-
Putin ratchets up pressure on Ukraine
feature Russian President Vladimir Putin put 150,000 troops at the Ukraine border on high alert and cut off $15 billion in financial aid.
-
Ukraine on the brink of civil war
feature Ukraine’s capital was engulfed in flames and violence when hundreds of riot police launched an assault on an anti-government protest camp.
-
Ukraine at the breaking point
feature An alliance of opposition groups vowed protests would continue until President Viktor Yanukovych is removed from power.
-
Dim prospects for Syrian talks
feature A long-awaited Syrian peace conference in Montreux, Switzerland, quickly degenerated into a cross fire of bitter accusations.
-
The fight over jobless benefits
feature A bill to restore federal benefits for the long-term unemployed advanced when six Republican senators voted with Democrats.