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Monday, November 25, 2013

Rally marks anniversary of Spain dictator's death

November 24, 2013

MADRID (AP) — Hundreds of people nostalgic for Spain's fascist past have held a rally outside Madrid's downtown Royal Palace to commemorate the 38th anniversary of dictator Francisco Franco's death.

Eduardo Arias, president of the right-wing Spanish Patriotic Knot association, addressed the gathering and exhorted the government to oppose immigration at a time when the country has sky-high unemployment. Sympathizers made stiff-arm salutes and waved Spanish flags before singing anthems dating from Franco's 1939-1975 rule.

Stalls sold far-right, fascist and Nazi memorabilia to curious passers-by on the fringes of Sunday's rally. On Saturday an anti-fascist protest was held outside El Valle de los Caidos, a giant mausoleum north of Madrid where Franco is buried.

Franco won the 1936-1939 civil war with the help of Nazi Germany and fascist Italy.

Tens of thousands rally in Kiev for closer EU ties

November 24, 2013

KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — About 50,000 demonstrators rallied in the center of Kiev on Sunday to demand that Ukraine's government reverse course and sign a landmark agreement with the European Union in defiance of Russia.

The protest was the biggest Ukraine has seen since the peaceful 2004 Orange Revolution, which overturned a fraudulent presidential election result and brought a Western-leaning government to power. The rally was led by Ukraine's top opposition figures, who called for the protests to continue until President Viktor Yanukovych agreed to sign the free trade and political association deal with the EU at a summit on Friday.

As during the Orange Revolution, the opposition set up tents and encouraged supporters to spend the night. It was unclear how many would stay, with temperatures in the single digits Celsius (40s Fahrenheit) and rain forecast.

Sunday's demonstration was sparked by anger over the government's sudden move last week to pull out of the EU agreement and focus instead on trade ties with Russia, under strong pressure from Moscow. After the rally at European Square, dozens of protesters clashed with police and pro-Russia activists near the government building, while another standoff took place outside Yanukovych's office. Police said they used tear gas at the government building after protesters threw a smoke bomb and refused to back off.

A larger crowd of several thousand headed for nearby Independence Square, planning to continue the protest. Meanwhile, Yanukovych supporters held their own rally on another Kiev square. The pro-EU demonstrators, carrying giant Ukrainian and EU flags, chanted "Ukraine is Europe" and sang the national anthem as they marched toward European Square for the rally.

"Should we go toward Europe or toward Russia? It's a choice between the past and the future," opposition leader Arseniy Yatsenyuk, a top ally of imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, told the crowd.

In an emotional letter read to demonstrators by her daughter, Tymoshenko called on Ukrainians to continue demonstrating until Yanukovych signed the EU deal. "Don't let him humiliate us all in this way," Eugenia Tymoshenko read out, shaking from cold and emotion. "It's our roadmap to a normal life."

The protesters responded with chants of "Freedom to Yulia" and "Down with the gang," a reference to Yanukovych and his government. U.S. and EU officials expressed deep disappointment with Ukraine's decision, and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry canceled a visit to Kiev in early December.

EU Enlargement Commissioner Stefan Fuele, who has been lobbying for the deal for years, indicated Sunday that the deal is was still on the table. In a Twitter post written in English, Ukrainian and Russian, Fuele said, "Our commitment to modernization of Ukraine remains firm, door remains open, benefits 4 neighbors too, despite rhetoric."

One key EU demand for signing the deal is the release of Tymoshenko, whose imprisonment the West sees as politically driven. Yanukovych narrowly defeated Tymoshenko in the 2010 presidential election. He comes up for re-election in 2015, and Tymoshenko accuses him of keeping her behind bars to prevent her from running.

Yuri Lutsenko, a Tymoshenko ally who was recently released from jail on charges the West also called politically motivated, struck a more militant tone, asking the protesters whether they were ready to fight for their country's future.

"They declared war on us," Lutsenko told the crowd. "Are we ready to take on this challenge?"

Associated Press writer Mark Rachkevych contributed to this story.

Ruling party candidate leads in Honduras pres vote

November 25, 2013

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — The ruling party candidate held the lead in early vote counting to become Honduras' next president, while two of his four main opponents began crying foul early Monday over the results in the violent and impoverished Central American nation.

With just over half the ballots tallied by late Sunday, Juan Orlando Hernandez of the governing National Party had a comfortable edge over Xiomara Castro, whose husband Manuel Zelaya was ousted in a 2009 coup that has left the country politically unstable.

Hernandez and Castro went into Sunday's election neck-and-neck in opinion polls, and expectations of a close finish raised fears that a disputed result would produce more instability and protests. Voting went off peacefully amid a heavy turnout, however, and the uncertainty of the final results plus a cold, rainy night kept the streets quiet.

The winner will likely have no more than a third of the vote and face a divided congress, whose 128 members were also up for election. As a result, the political situation is unlikely to change in the failing state of 8.5 million people, which is home to the world's highest homicide rate and a transit point for much of the South American cocaine heading to the U.S.

Both candidates claimed victory, with Hernandez saying he would start Monday with the job of leading Hondurans out of the misery they've endured. Poverty and violence have climbed in the last four years under President Porfirio Lobo, also of the National Party.

Castro said her campaign's numbers gave her a victory by 3 points, then left her election-night party at a hotel and was not heard from the rest of the night. Zelaya urged her supporters to stay at the polls and keep monitoring the count.

"We don't accept the results," Zelaya said early Monday. "There are more than 1 million votes that have yet to be counted." Salvador Nasrallah, a popular sportscaster and candidate of the Anticorruption Party who was in fourth place, also questioned the official returns.

"Our data do not match the official data that the system is transmitting," Nasrallah said. David Matamoros, president of Honduras' electoral court, said final results were not expected until Monday morning.

"The preliminary results we have given so far do not show any tendency or declare any winner," he said Sunday night. Both U.S. Ambassador Lisa Kubiske and Ulrike Lunacek, head of the European Union observer mission, said reports from the polls indicated the vote and subsequent count so far were regular.

"We had 110 observers in almost all Honduras states, and we have seen a transparent process with all parties represented at the table," Kubiske said, noting that there is a system in place for people to peacefully file complaints or contest the results.

Castro, 54, had led the race for months portraying herself as the candidate for change, promising relief from violence and poverty and constitutional reform that would make the country more equitable.

"From the data from our surveys and vote counts, I am the president of Honduras," she said early in the night. "The victory is overwhelming and irreversible." Hernandez, 45, erased Castro's early lead in a field of eight candidates as he focused his campaign on a promise to bring law and order. As president of Congress, Hernandez pushed through legislation creating a military police force to patrol the streets in place of the National Police, which are penetrated by corruption and often accused of extrajudicial killings.

"Today the people voted to leave behind the political crisis of 2009 that left thousands in Honduras jobless, migrating and divided, that left us alone and isolated," Hernandez said. The number of people working for less than minimum wage of $350 a month in Honduras has grown from 28 percent in 2008 to 43 percent today.

"There is insecurity, fear, violence, hunger and unemployment. There are problems that are so deep that I doubt anyone can really solve them," said Jose Barreiro, a voter.

Associated Press writer Freddy Cuevas contributed to this report.

Israel pushes forward with settlement plans

November 25, 2013

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's defense ministry says plans to build 800 new housing units in the West Bank are moving forward.

The ministry said on Monday it had approved a planning stage for the housing earlier this month. The approval is an initial step in a protracted bureaucratic process and construction is not expected to begin for months.

The approval comes as Israel and the Palestinians are conducting quiet, behind-the-scenes peace talks. The Palestinians want the West Bank, along with east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, as part of a future state and oppose Israeli settlement building.

The housing plans were originally announced last month, following Israel's release of 26 Palestinian prisoners. That move was part of a deal that brought the two sides back to negotiations.

Thai protesters enter Finance Ministry compound

November 25, 2013

BANGKOK (AP) — Protesters in Thailand's capital swarmed the Finance Ministry compound Monday, overrunning several buildings and cutting electricity in an escalating campaign to topple Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government.

The intrusion was the boldest act yet in opposition-led protests that started last month. It highlights the movement's new strategy of paralyzing the government by forcing civil servants to stop working.

Protesters say they want Yingluck to step down amid claims that her government is controlled by her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a military coup in 2006. On Sunday, more than 150,000 demonstrators marched in Bangkok in the largest rally Thailand has seen in years.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban led the crowd at the Finance Ministry on a day when protesters fanned out to 13 locations across Bangkok, snarling traffic and raising concerns of violence in the country's ongoing political crisis, which has revolved around Thaksin for years.

"Go up to every floor, go into every room, but do not destroy anything," Suthep told the crowd before he entered the ministry and held a meeting in its conference room. "Make them see this is people's power!" said Suthep, a former deputy prime minister and opposition lawmaker.

Protesters sang, danced and blew noisy whistles in the hallways as part of their "whistle-blowing" campaign against the government. One group cut power at the Budget Bureau to pressure the agency to stop funding government projects.

Police made no immediate move to oust them. More than two dozen Bangkok schools along the protest route were closed Monday and police tightened security at the protest destinations, which included the military and police headquarters and the five television stations controlled by the military or the government.

Despite a heavy police presence at most protest sites, there was limited security at the Finance Ministry. At another protest near the prime minister's office, police were outnumbered by more than 1,000 protesters who scuffled with officers and tore down a razor wire barricade. A foreign freelance journalist in the crowd was punched by protesters who accused him of biased reporting before security personnel intervened.

Many fear that clashes could erupt between the anti-government protesters and Thaksin's supporters, who are staging their own rally at a Bangkok stadium and have vowed to stay until the opposition calls off its demonstrations.

Thaksin's supporters and opponents have battled for power since he was toppled in 2006 following street protests accusing him of corruption and disrespect for the country's constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Thaksin has lived in self-imposed exile for the past five years to avoid a prison sentence on a corruption conviction.

The battle for power has sometimes led to bloodshed on Bangkok's streets. About 90 people were killed in 2010 when Thaksin's "Red Shirt" supporters occupied parts of central Bangkok for weeks before the government, led then by the current opposition, sent the military to crack down.

The latest protests have ended two years of relative calm under Yingluck's government. Yingluck's administration has struggled to contain the demonstrations, which started over opposition to a government-backed political amnesty bill that critics said was designed to bring Thaksin home from exile. The Senate rejected the bill earlier this month in a bid to end the protests. But the rallies have gained momentum and leaders have now shifted their target to the goal of toppling the "Thaksin regime," which is how protesters refer to Yingluck's government.

The intrusion at the Finance Ministry raised the specter of a repeat of 2008 protests when Thaksin's opponents were protesting a different Thaksin-allied government and occupied the prime minister's office compound for three months.

Bangkok braces as protesters fan out across city

November 25, 2013

BANGKOK (AP) — Bangkok braced for major disruptions Monday as a massive anti-government march fanned out to 13 locations in a growing bid to topple the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

More than two dozen Bangkok schools along the protest route were closed and police tightened security at the protest destinations, which included the military and police headquarters and the five television stations controlled by the military or the government.

Protesters say they want Yingluck to step down amid claims that her government is controlled by her older brother, ousted former leader Thaksin Shinawatra. Monday's rally came a day after about 100,000 people marched in Bangkok, staging the largest rally by Thaksin opponents in years.

Protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban promised Monday's march would be peaceful and law-abiding. But the escalating movement, which started last month, has raised concerns of renewed violence in Thailand's ongoing political crisis, which has revolved around Thaksin for years.

Many fear that clashes could erupt between the anti-government protesters and Thaksin's supporters, who are staging their own rally at a Bangkok stadium and have vowed to stay put until the opposition calls off its demonstration.

Thaksin's supporters and opponents have battled for power since a 2006 military coup ousted the former prime minister, who was toppled following street protests accusing him of corruption and disrespect for the country's constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Thaksin has lived in self-imposed exile for the past five years to avoid a prison sentence on a corruption conviction.

The battle for power has sometimes led to bloodshed on Bangkok's streets. Most recently, about 90 people were killed in 2010 when Thaksin's "Red Shirt" supporters occupied parts of central Bangkok for weeks before the government, led then by the current opposition, sent the military to crack down.

The latest protests have ended two years of relative calm under Yingluck's government. Yingluck's administration has struggled to contain the demonstrations, which initially started over opposition to a government-backed political amnesty bill that critics said was designed to bring Thaksin home from exile. The Senate rejected the bill earlier this month in a bid to end the protests. But the rallies have gained momentum and leaders have now shifted their target to the more abstract goal of toppling the "Thaksin regime," which is how protesters refer to Yingluck's government.

"Our demonstration will continue until we can get rid of the Thaksin regime," Suthep told the crowd Sunday. Suthep accused Thaksin of abusing human rights, corruption and interfering with government officials.

"We will tell the government officials to stop serving the Thaksin regime and stand by the people's side instead," Suthep told The Associated Press. "We will also march to tell the media to report news with neutrality, without distortion, and not to serve the government. They must give people the truth."

Special peace-keeping command spokesman police Maj. Gen. Piya Uthayo said intelligence reports indicated that the protesters would also move to surround key Bangkok locations, including the prime minister's office and Parliament.

Big Boost for China's Moon Lander

by Morris Jones for SpaceDaily
Sydney, Australia (SPX)
Nov 22, 2013

Things are going well for China's first lunar landing. The Chang'e-3 spacecraft and its rover are being processed at the launch site. So is the rocket to be used in this mission. With all preparations apparently nominal, we can probably expect liftoff in early December.

The Chang'e-3 spacecraft is larger and heavier than China's previous two lunar missions, which were both sent to simply orbit the Moon. Apart from the extra gear on this mission, Chang'e-3 must also carry a heavy fuel load to enable it to descend from lunar orbit and land safely.

All this extra mass means that the lighter members of the Long March 3 group of rockets, which were used for the first missions, don't pack enough force for this flight. China has now rolled out the most powerful member of its operational fleet of space launch vehicles. Enter the Long March 3B!

The Long March 3B has four liquid fuelled strap-on boosters, giving it greater performance than the Long March 3A, which has no strap-ons. This was the vehicle used to launch Chang'e-1 to lunar orbit. Chang'e-2 was an almost identical spacecraft launched by the Long March 3C, which, despite its name, is actually less powerful than the 3B.

This intermediate rocket has two strap-on boosters. The use of this upgraded rocket allowed Chang'e-2 to fly a different trajectory to the Moon. It also helped Chang'e-2 save enough fuel to allow it to fly on to the asteroid Toutatis after its lunar mission.

But even a standard Long March 3B isn't quite good enough for this mission. China has announced that there have been modifications and improvements to the rocket. We've heard remarks like this many times before major Chinese space launches, but the comments should not be dismissed. China is forever tweaking its rockets, mostly in small, incremental steps.

This is a hallmark of good engineering. Most of the changes are never precisely outlined, and some will be as trivial as changing a small internal battery or wiring system. Nevertheless, China has precisely announced one outcome. The modified Long March 3B for the Chang'e-3 mission can launch 30 kilograms more payload.

But what exactly does this mean? Basic rocket science notes that exactly how much payload a rocket can launch depends greatly on where it is going. The further out you go, the less you can carry. We could assume that the 30 kilogram boost is relative to an unmodified rocket on a similar trajectory. Otherwise the statement is somewhat ambiguous.

Does Chang'e-3 weigh too much for a standard Long March 3B rocket? Probably not. But as China has noted, the performance bonus does give mission controllers more flexibility in launch timings. Launches to the Moon depend on "windows", or times when the Moon is in the right position relative to the launch site for a fuel-efficient flight. A little extra performance from the rocket means that these "windows" are not so small. That could be the difference between launching or not launching if minor glitches occur in the final stages of the countdown.

How was the performance improvement achieved for the Long March 3B? There was probably nothing so exotic as tinkering with the engines or fuel tanks. This analyst suspects that much of the performance boost comes from deleting mass from the rocket itself. Some parts could have been made lighter or smaller.

Some redundant parts could have been deleted. Different materials could have been used in some areas. This would not affect the overall design or functionality of the launch vehicle.

The only real change that we will probably notice on the new Long March 3B will be the spiffy logo of the China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP) on the payload fairing. Everything else will be buried deep inside.

If the launch is successful, the slightly tweaked Long March 3B will probably become the new "standard" version of this powerful rocket. China may even wish to add some more modifications, although it is questionable if any serious performance increases could be made without some major re-engineering.

Stay tuned for more flights of the Long March 3B. Although it does not fly as often as China's Long March 2 series rockets, the 3B will have another high-profile mission in the future. We can expect this rocket to launch the Chang'e-4 mission to the Moon in a few years. Like its predecessor, this second lunar lander will also require a big boost.

Source: Moon Daily.
Link: http://www.moondaily.com/reports/Big_Boost_for_Chinas_Moon_Lander_999.html.

Red Christmas: Billionaire eyes private Mars mission in 2017

Moscow (Voice of Russia)
Nov 25, 2013

Billionaire Dennis Tito has revealed his scheme for dispatching two astronauts to the red planet as early as December 2017, saying that 'rare alignments' of planets should be exploited as the context of the project.

'Inspiration Mars' would be a 501-day US mission to the planet without landing on its surface and would take the opportunity of a rare alignment of Mars and earth so that the mission would require minimal rocket fuel, according to a report released on Wednesday.

Two separate trips would be necessary for the Mars Mission - Tito proposed that the first launch would involve a NASA rocket delivering the vehicle into orbit that would actually go onto Mars, and the second would take the astronauts which would later be united with their spacecraft.

"We propose to send a spacecraft bearing two astronauts, a man and woman, to the far side of Mars and return them to Earth, a voyage of 314 million miles in 501 days, in collaboration with NASA, in the name of America, and for the good of humanity," stated the "Architecture Report Study" released by the Inspiration Mars team.

NASA is producing a new rocket to be used in the mission. The Space Launch System (SLS), which is expected to be finished by 2017. However, it has not yet issued a response to Tito's proposal.

Tito's organization would also use the Orbital Sciences Corporation's new Cygnus capsule which finished its first mission to the international space station in October. He rejected NASA's new Orion capsule, stating that it wouldn't meet mission requirements.

Tito later testified before the House Science Subcommittee on Space, stating: "The work of this subcommittee ... gave NASA the Space Launch System (SLS), the Orion program, and new commercial capabilities. We propose to combine all these elements, as we have explained in (the) Architecture Study Report." He added that "the United States will carry out a Mars flyby mission, or we will watch as others do it - leaving us to applaud their skill and their daring."

The window of opportunity for takeoff is very narrow, and to maximize it the rocket would have to launch between Christmas Day 2017 and January 5 2018. This could prove difficult as delays in space travel are notoriously common. "Even the very movement of planets seems to be saying 'Go'," the report states.

NASA has recently launched its 'Maven' orbiter into space, which is expected to reach Mars by September. The spacecraft will have to travel millions of miles and enter Mars' atmosphere which could never happen - out of the ten orbiters sent previously by NASA, only seven have been successful.

Russia plans to land a rover on Mars in 2018, rehabilitating its space program after the embarrassing failure of its Phobos-Grunt survey mission. There is also collaboration between Finnish, Russian and Spanish participants on a plan to deliver several dozen landers to Mars to form a meteorological observation network on its surface.

"Given Russia's clear recognition of the value and prestige of accomplishments in human space exploration, and their long-time interest in exploring Mars, my personal belief is that in all likelihood the Energia super-heavy rocket revival announcement signals Russian intent to fly this mission in 2021," Tito told the committee.

Source: Mars Daily.
Link: http://www.marsdaily.com/reports/Red_Christmas_Billionaire_eyes_private_Mars_mission_in_2017_999.html.

World powers, Iran clinch 'historic' nuclear deal

24th of November 2013, Sunday

By Simon Sturdee and Nicolas Revise

Geneva (AFP) - World leaders hailed Sunday a "historic" nuclear deal with Iran as a triumph for diplomacy, but cautioned the hard work was just starting to keep Tehran from building a bomb.

Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program for the next six months in exchange for limited sanctions relief, in a preliminary accord meant to lay the foundations for a comprehensive agreement later this year.

The deal was reached in marathon talks in Geneva that ended Sunday before dawn after long tractions between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany.

Tehran's arch-foe Israel slammed the deal as a "historic mistake" that left open the capability for the Islamic republic to develop a nuclear arsenal.

But the six powers involved hailed it as a key first step that for now warded off the prospect of military escalation -- a geopolitical breakthrough that would have been unthinkable only months ago.

"Today, the United States together with our close allies and partners took an important first step toward a comprehensive solution that addresses our concerns with the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear program," US President Barack Obama said in Washington.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the deal "could turn out to be the beginnings of a historic agreement" for the Middle East.

Tehran boasted at home that the accord recognized its "right" to enrich uranium -- which it says is for peaceful purposes -- but Western leaders said the deal made no such reference.

Under the deal, Tehran will limit uranium enrichment -- the area that raises most suspicions over Iran's alleged nuclear weapons drive -- to low levels that can only be used for civilian energy purposes.

It will neutralize its stockpile of uranium enriched to higher 20-percent purity -- very close to weapons-grade -- within six months, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Geneva after clinching the deal.

Iran will not add to its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, nor install more centrifuges or commission the Arak heavy-water reactor, which could produce plutonium fissile material.

UN atomic inspectors will also have additional, "unprecedented" access, Kerry said, including daily site inspections at the two enrichment facilities of Fordo and Natanz.

In exchange, the Islamic republic will receive some $7 billion (5.2 billion euros) in sanctions relief and the powers promised to impose no new embargo measures for six months if Tehran sticks to the accord.

But the vast raft of international sanctions that have badly hobbled the Iranian economy remain untouched.

The interim sanctions relief was "limited, temporary, targeted, and reversible," the White House said, stressing that "the vast bulk of our sanctions, including the oil, finance, and banking sanctions architecture" will stay in place.

Right to uranium enrichment?

Hassan Rouhani, whose election as Iran's president in June raised hopes of a thaw with the West, insisted "Iran's right to uranium enrichment on its soil was accepted in this nuclear deal by world powers".

But Kerry was adamant: "This first step does not say that Iran has the right of enrichment, no matter what interpretative comments are made."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the BBC that only a final, comprehensive accord -- if reached -- would grant Iran a "right" to peaceful nuclear energy.

"The (interim deal) document does not resolve the argument about whether there is such a thing as the right to enrich," Hague told the BBC.

Russia said it was a win-win deal, while Iran's other ally China said the document would support stability in the Middle East.

But President Vladimir Putin also echoed Obama's note of caution: tougher battles surely lie ahead.

"A breakthrough step has been made, but only the first on a long and difficult path."

France called Sunday's deal "an important step in the right direction."

The next six months will see Iran and the United States, China, Russia, France, Britain and Germany negotiating the more comprehensive deal.

Joel Rubin, director of policy for the foundation Ploughshares Fund, warned the hardest work may still lie ahead.

"This is going to challenge all of the feelings, and conceptions and ideologies and emotions that have been pent up in the US, in the West and in Israel and elsewhere for decades. It's going to be a very, very hard task," he said.

Sanctions have 'begun to crack'

The deal was reached at the third round of talks between the P5+1 and Iran since Rouhani replaced the more hawkish Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in August.

Much of the groundwork was apparently made in secret US-Iran bilateral meetings over past months, according to a report by the Al-Monitor news website.

Iranians, many of whom see the nuclear program as a source of national pride, are impatient to see a lifting of sanctions that have more than halved Iran's vital oil exports since mid-2012.

"The structure of the sanctions against Iran has begun to crack," Rouhani claimed after the signing Sunday.

Supreme leader Ali Ayatollah Khamenei, who last week described Israel as a doomed "rabid dog", hailed the deal as an "achievement".

For ordinary Iranians, news of the breakthrough was a moment of unbridled joy, with expectations that lives made miserable by sanctions would get better.

Their weakened money, the rial, strengthened Sunday after the deal, and a sense of relief flowed through Iranian streets and internet social networks.

"I am not opposed to the enrichment right. But I am entitled to other rights as well: the right to have a job, to see the development of my country," wrote one Iranian internet user, Saghar.

Israel, though, virulently criticized the agreement, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu telling his cabinet that "what was achieved... in Geneva is not a historic agreement but rather a historic mistake".

Many in Israel believe Iran's only goal is to develop a nuclear arsenal with which to threaten their country, and want the Islamic republic's nuclear facilities dismantled for good.

Kerry said the deal extends the "breakout" time needed by Iran to develop nuclear weapons and thus "will make our partners in the region safer. It will make our ally Israel safer."

Many hardliners in the United States charged that Obama was being too soft on Iran.

Hawkish US lawmakers said they wanted to up the pressure on Iran to force it to go beyond the hard-won deal and start dismantling existing nuclear infrastructure.

One, Republican Senator Mark Kirk, said he would help craft new sanctions legislation "if Iran undermines this interim accord or if the dismantlement of Iran's nuclear infrastructure is not underway by the end of this six-month period".