![\"john-kerry1\"](\"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2013\/10\/john-kerry1.jpg\" "\\"john-kerry1\\"")
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US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that negotiations with the Iranian regime to curb its nuclear program are not being linked to other issues facing the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo conversation, no agreement, no exchange, nothing, has created any kind of deal or agreement with respect to any of the events that are at stake in the Middle East,\u201d Kerry told reporters in Beijing, according to Reuters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no linkage whatsoever of the nuclear discussions with any other issue, and I want to make that absolutely clear. The nuclear negotiations are on their own,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He made the remarks between meetings at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit attended by top leaders and ministers from November 7-11.<\/p>\n
Kerry was responding Saturday to a Wall Street Journal report last week describing a letter from President Barack Obama to Tehran suggesting a shared interest in fighting the ISIS — but that cooperation would depend on whether Iran agrees to a nuclear deal.<\/p>\n
President Obama\u2019s letter to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has drawn criticism on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n
“It is outrageous that, while the cries of moderate Syrian forces for greater U.S. assistance fall on deaf ears in the White House, President Obama is apparently urging Ayatollah Khamenei to join the fight against ISIS,” Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n
They noted Iranian regime is fueling the violence by backing radical militias in Iraq and “doing everything in its power to aid the killing machine of Bashar al-Assad in Syria.”<\/p>\n
They warned: \u201cThe consequences of this ill-conceived bargain would destroy the Syrians\u2019 last, best chance to live in freedom from the brutal Assad regime.\u201d<\/p>\n
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Mike Rogers, called the letter \u201creally concerning,\u201d on Friday, adding that it might hurt fragile U.S. alliances in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can tell you that it is causing real problems with our Sunni Arab League partners in the fight against ISIS,\u201d Rogers said Friday on MSNBC. \u201cIt\u2019s really concerning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that negotiations with the Iranian regime to curb its nuclear program are not being linked to other issues facing the Middle East. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[175],"class_list":{"0":"post-17491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-iran-a-world","7":"tag-updated"},"yoast_head":"\n