First lady’s theme is ‘gifts from the heart’ 

 
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U.S. officials are increasing pressure on Iran to make progress in reviving a 2015 deal that curbed the Iranian nuclear program, saying they will determine within days if Tehran is serious about negotiations with world powers in Vienna.

“We’re going to know very, very quickly, I think in the next day or two, whether Iran is serious or not,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday, speaking to reporters before leaving Stockholm.

Some analysts said Iran may deflect such pressure by using negotiating tactics to try to prolong the talks, which are aimed at reviving the 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

The United States and Iran resumed indirect negotiations in Vienna on Monday, with other countries acting as mediators and seeking to bring both sides back into compliance with the JCPOA. U.S. and Iranian negotiators previously held five inconclusive rounds of indirect talks in Vienna from April to June, when Iran suspended the negotiations ahead of its presidential election that month.

Under the JCPOA, Iran promised it would curb nuclear activities that could be weaponized in return for international sanctions relief. Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons.

The prior U.S. administration of former President Donald Trump quit the JCPOA in 2018, saying it was not tough enough on Iran, and reimposed U.S. sanctions. Iran retaliated a year later by starting to publicly exceed JCPOA limits on its nuclear activities. Trump’s successor, President Joe Biden, has said he wants to honor the deal again if Iran does the same.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed Iran’s latest breach of JCPOA limits on Wednesday, saying it has begun using advanced centrifuges at its underground nuclear facility in Fordo to enrich uranium up to 20% purity, a short step away from weapons-grade levels.

Israel, a key U.S. ally whose destruction Iran has vowed to pursue, reacted to that news with alarm. The Israeli government said Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke by phone with Blinken on Thursday and accused Tehran of using its Fordo advances as “nuclear blackmail” in the JCPOA talks. It said Bennett urged the United States and other world powers to respond by stopping the negotiations immediately.

Blinken made his comment about determining the Iranian negotiators’ seriousness in “the next day or two” as he responded to a reporter asking what he thought of Bennett’s appeal. “We will not accept the status quo of Iran building its [nuclear] program on the one hand and dragging its feet in talks on the other. That’s not going to last,” Blinken added.

It was the first time that Blinken or any other Biden administration official has publicly stated such a specific and short timeframe for assessing Iran’s negotiating position, after months of declining to do so while also saying that time was running short.

In comments to reporters Thursday in Vienna, Iranian chief nuclear negotiator and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said Tehran is prepared to continue the talks if “they are ready” to do the same, in apparent reference to the U.S. and other Western powers.

Britain, France and Germany, the three European powers acting as mediators in the JCPOA talks, already had toughened their stance toward Iran last week, issuing a statement expressing “deep concern” that Iran is “permanently and irreversibly upgrading its nuclear capabilities and exposing the international community to significant risk.”

Blinken’s short timeline for Iran to show seriousness also came a day after Iran handed two proposals to the Western powers for the U.S. sanctions that it wants to be lifted and for the nuclear limits it is prepared to resume in return for the U.S. sanctions relief.

Iran has repeatedly insisted that it wants all sanctions imposed by the U.S. in recent years to be lifted, regardless of whether the U.S. justified the measures as responses to Iran’s nuclear activities, alleged involvement in terrorism or alleged human rights abuses. Tehran has not publicly outlined what nuclear concessions it is willing to make.

“My understanding from the latest news reporting is that [Iran’s proposals] have been maximalist demands that are unworkable for the United States,” said Jason Brodsky, policy director of U.S. advocacy group United Against Nuclear Iran, in a VOA interview.

Iran analyst and JCPOA critic Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies told VOA that a serious negotiating approach by Iran would mean not only dropping its demand that the talks focus initially on sanctions relief but also proposing a timetable for returning to Iranian compliance with the JCPOA’s nuclear limits.

Brodsky said Blinken’s Thursday remarks also could give Iran an opening to prolong the JCPOA talks in other ways.

“Even though the hour is getting very late,” Blinken said, “it is not too late for Iran to reverse course and engage meaningfully in an effort to return to mutual compliance with the JCPOA.”

Brodsky said Iran could accept IAEA demands to restore U.N. inspectors’ access to cameras at a centrifuge workshop in Karaj after blocking such access for months. “It would be a token concession to keep the process going,” he said.

Ryan Costello, policy director of pro-JCPOA U.S. advocacy group National Iranian American Council, said Iran’s nuclear negotiators may be posturing in such way that it would take time for the U.S. to figure out what their bottom line is.

“There are likely to be consultations in capitals and so forth, and the process will play out in weeks and months, not a couple of days,” he predicted to VOA.

Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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China will cut to no more than 10 days the time required for approval of travel by U.S. business executives, its ambassador to the United States said on Thursday, promising to turn “an attentive ear” to concerns raised by businesses.

Qin Gang, who arrived in the United States in July, told a dinner hosted by the U.S.-China Business Council that Beijing would also work to make COVID-19 testing more convenient and allow executives to work during quarantine.

Qin said Beijing was adopting President Xi Jinping’s direction on upgrading “fast track” travel arrangements, a response to U.S. concerns about resumption of business travel announced after Xi met U.S. President Joe Biden last month.

“With the upgraded arrangement, the time needed for travel approval will be shorter, no more than 10 working days,” he said.

Qin said Beijing would share its specific workplan “very soon” with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

He said Beijing was committed to implementing the spirit of the recent virtual summit of Xi and Biden, and injecting “more positive energy into our relations.”

Qin called for strengthened co-operation in manufacturing, financial services and the energy sector.

He also repeated Beijing’s call for Washington to abolish additional tariffs imposed on Chinese goods by the administration of former President Donald Trump.

Marc Allen, chief strategy officer for Boeing Co, welcomed the announcement of fast-track travel, and a separate decision by China’s aviation authority to issue an airworthiness directive on the Boeing 737 MAX, which will pave the way for the model’s return to service in China after more than 2-1/2 years.

At the same gathering, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment Jose Fernandez repeated a litany of U.S. complaints about China’s business practices and stressed the need for a level playing field for U.S. companies.

He reiterated U.S. concerns about human rights, including alleged forced labor, in China’s Xinjiang region and highlighted U.S. government warnings to business about the risks of operating in Hong Kong.

He told the business leaders operating in China they should keep in mind that they are “not bystanders in the broader economic and strategic relationship.”

“Above all, please be mindful how your activities can affect U.S. national security and the fundamental values that we all hold dear,” he said. 

 
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A 29-year-old man has been arrested in the death of philanthropist Jacqueline Avant, who was fatally shot this week at the Beverly Hills home she shared with her husband, legendary music executive Clarence Avant, police said Thursday.

Aariel Maynor, who was on parole, was taken into custody early Wednesday by Los Angeles police at a separate residence after a burglary there, Beverly Hills Police Chief Mark Stainbrook said. 

Police recovered an AR-15 rifle at that home that was believed to have been used in the shooting of Jacqueline Avant. Maynor accidentally shot himself in the foot with the gun, police said, and was being treated before he could be booked into jail. 

Authorities said they did not believe there were any other suspects in the Avant case, and Stainbrook said there were no outstanding threats to public safety. 

Police had not yet determined a motive or whether the Avant home was targeted. It was not immediately known if Maynor had an attorney. 

Maynor has previous felony convictions for assault, robbery and grand theft.

Police were called to the Avants’ home early Wednesday after receiving a call reporting a shooting. Officers found Jacqueline Avant, 81, with a gunshot wound. She was taken to the hospital but did not survive. 

Clarence Avant and a security guard at their home were not hurt during the shooting. 

Reported shooting

An hour later, Los Angeles police were called to a home in the Hollywood Hills — about 7 miles (11.27 kilometers) from the Avant residence — because of a reported shooting. They found Maynor there, as well as evidence of a burglary at that home, and took him into custody. 

Jacqueline Avant was a longtime local philanthropist who led organizations that helped low-income neighborhoods including Watts and South Los Angeles, and she was on the board of directors of the International Student Center at the University of California-Los Angeles. 

Grammy-winning executive Clarence Avant is known as the “Godfather of Black Music” and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this year. The 90-year-old was also a concert promoter and manager who mentored and helped the careers of artists including Bill Withers, Little Willie John, L.A. Reid, Babyface, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. 

Tributes to Jacqueline Avant poured in from across the country. She was remembered by former President Bill Clinton, basketball icon Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Democratic Representative Karen Bass of California and music star Quincy Jones.
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The European Union this week launched a $340 billion “Global Gateway” fund to boost global infrastructure, which analysts say is aimed at rivaling China’s Belt and Road Initiative. But can it compete with Beijing’s billions? 

The EU says its Global Gateway will finance high-quality digital, climate, and energy and transport infrastructure, including fiber-optic cables, road and rail, and renewable power, primarily in developing nations. 

Green transition

“It will invest around the world to support our priorities — that is, the green and digital transition,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told a press conference on Wednesday.

“Think, for example, of investment in clean hydrogen. We have partner countries that have an abundance of renewable energy. Think of wind or solar to produce hydrogen, which is of interest for them as well as us, or think of underwater data cable connecting to continents,” she told reporters. “Global Gateway will also focus on transport links, health care capacity … it will also support schools and education systems.” 

The fund will offer the equivalent of $340 billion through 2027, with the majority in loans rather than grants. 

Democratic values

“We want to take a different approach. We want to show that a democratic, value-driven approach can deliver on the most pressing challenges. We want to show that it can on one hand meet local needs, but also, on the other hand, tackle the global challenges we have. And thus, in a way also, of course, benefit the European Union, because Global Gateway is also about our strategic interests around the world,” von der Leyen said.

The project is also clearly about geopolitics, said analyst Jonathan Holslag, a professor of international politics at the Free University of Brussels. 

“The European Commission obviously does not want to say so, but the main objective behind the Global Gateway is to respond to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, China’s new Silk Road,” Holslag told VOA. “A lot of European companies have encountered huge competition from their Chinese rivals. They have also seen that countries are sliding into China’s orbit.” 

Francesca Ghiretti, an analyst at Germany’s Mercator Institute for China Studies, told VOA the European Union should be strategic about which projects it selects, but foresees investment headed toward Africa and India.

“We know so far Africa would be a big focus of Brussels, and probably also India, in light of the fact that in 2022 there are going to be two summits, one EU-Africa summit, and one EU-India summit,” she said.

Chinese competition

Is Europe’s $340 billion enough to compete with Beijing? 

“Given the need for the development of infrastructure in every respect, whether it concerns railroads, ports and so forth, this is just a drop in the ocean, you could say,” Holslag added. “But also, if you compare it to what China is investing, it remains rather small. China today has a total portfolio of overseas loans and credit of about 1,500 billion U.S. dollars.” 

That financial firepower was on show in Laos this week, as the country officially opened a $5.9 billion, 1,000-kilometer rail link with Kunming in China, which was 60% financed with Chinese state loans.

The railroad, which connects the Laotian capital, Vientiane, to the southern Chinese city through lush tropical mountains, is one of hundreds of projects launched under the Belt and Road Initiative to expand trade by building ports, railways and other facilities across Asia, Africa and the Pacific. 

Debt

For some analysts, the costs of Chinese debt are dangerously high. 

“The COVID situation doesn’t augur particularly well for making money out of the railway, and that means more debt, and less revenue, less export,” Greg Raymond of the Australian National University told The Associated Press. 

“To me, when I look at the facts about Laos’ economic situation, it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that they’re slipping deeper into a kind of Chinese orbit simply because of the economic decisions that they’ve made,” Raymond said. 

China has also invested heavily in Europe, buying up ports including Piraeus in Greece — the EU’s sixth-busiest container port — and financing transport routes in the Balkan states. Montenegro was recently forced to seek help from European and American banks to pay a $1 billion Chinese loan used to finance a new freeway. 

European alternative

After watching Beijing move into its backyard, analysts say, the EU wants to offer an alternative. The EU said this week its “Global Gateway” program could work in conjunction with the United States’ “Build Back Better World” infrastructure fund, launched alongside other G-7 members in June.

But Europe may not be competing on the same terms as China, said analyst Holslag.

“We also still have to see whether developing countries are interested in taking the conditions that are going to be attached to European loans, in terms of environmental sustainability, transparency and so forth. I think they will rather try to play off different donors against one another,” Holslag told VOA. 

China reaction

China denies the Belt and Road Initiative creates debt traps. Beijing has not yet responded directly to the European plans.

Responding to a question on the U.S. “Build Back Better World” fund, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters November 9, “There is plenty of room for cooperation in the field of global infrastructure, where different initiatives will not offset or replace each other. What the world needs is to build bridges instead of tearing them down, to be interconnected instead of decoupling, and to be mutually beneficial, not enclosed or exclusive.” 

Kris Cheng and VOA’s Cantonese Service contributed to this report.
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The United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Canada have announced a new round of sanctions against Belarus officials and entities, citing the government’s “ongoing attacks on democracy, human rights, and international norms, and for their brutal repression of Belarusians both inside and outside the country,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The U.S. is targeting 32 officials and entities, including state-owned enterprises that support the government of President Alexander Lukashenko. Also sanctioned is Lukashenko’s son, Dmitry.

The U.S. also placed restrictions on the Belarus government’s ability to borrow money. 

Lukashenko has been cracking down on political dissent since the August 2020 elections, which the U.S. and EU called fraudulent. It is also accused of using migrants as political weapons against its neighbors, such as Poland.

“Today’s actions demonstrate our unwavering determination to act in the face of a brutal regime that increasingly represses Belarusians, undermines the peace and security of Europe, and continues to abuse people seeking only to live in freedom. These sanctions are also in response to the Lukashenka regime’s callous exploitation of vulnerable migrants from other countries in order to orchestrate migrant smuggling along its border with EU states,” Blinken said.

The EU sanctions are against officials involved in the migrant crisis, as well as against two airlines — state airline Belavia and Syrian airline Cham Wings — which it says are bringing migrants to Belarus to make the crisis worse.

The U.K. announced it will freeze assets of state-owned OJSC Belaruskali, a large manufacturer of potash fertilizer. Canada said it would sanction the 32 individuals and entities named by the U.S.

“Our position is clear,” Blinken said. “The United States calls on the Lukashenko regime to end its crackdown on members of civil society, independent media, the political opposition, athletes, students, legal professionals and other Belarusians; to immediately release all political prisoners; to engage in a sincere dialogue with the democratic opposition and civil society; to fulfill its international human rights obligations; to stop its coercion of vulnerable people; and to hold free and fair elections under international observation.”
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