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Friday, 17 December 2021 4:14 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 17 December 2021 4:14 PM ]

Sanctions removal talks

Iran strikes an optimistic tone over the ongoing talks in Vienna to revive the JCPOA. Top negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani says the talks have made good progress this week. He says the parties will convene a joint commission later on Friday and will continue talks in a few days. The ongoing talks are the seventh round taking place this year between Iran and the remaining signatories to the 2015 deal. The negotiations focus on the removal of the sanctions the US imposed after it withdrew from the accord in 2018. Tehran has offered two documents on the sanctions removal and the commitments it should fulfill. Iran says it will resume its nuclear commitments only after the sanctions are terminated.

US China sanctions

China firmly opposes new US sanctions against its firms, and promises to take necessary measures to safeguard their rights. A Foreign Ministry spokesman says Washington fabricates all kinds of excuses to unreasonably suppress Chinese firms. Wang Wenbin says the US actions have undermined the principles of market economy. He urges Washington to rectify mistaken ways. The latest sanctions target a dozen Chinese companies. The US accuses them of having links with the Chinese military and violating minorities’ rights. Also on Thursday, Washington put China’s top military medical research institute and eleven others to an export blacklist. The latest bans add to the already-high tensions between the two countries over a host of issues including trade and Taiwan.

UK PM by-election defeat

The Embattled UK premier says he takes personal responsibility for his party’s very disappointing by-election results in North Shropshire. Boris Johnson said he totally understands why people were frustrated and are frustrated in the district. The Liberal Democrats won the vote, meaning that Johnson’s Conservative party loses a Parliament seat they have held for nearly 200 years. The seat became vacant after a Conservative ally of Johnson stepped down over breaking lobbying rules. The Prime Minister has been hit by several setbacks and scandals in recent weeks, including a surging Omicron variant and tanking approval ratings. He is also particularly plagued by recent allegations about his government staff attending Christmas parties last year in violation of COVID restrictions. Johnson has denied that any rules were broken and has ordered an inquiry.

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