Kerry: Word ‘soon’ on Egypt aid
He vows support for el-Sissi moves, tells of Iran-talks gaps
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt — Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday promised a decision soon about a restoration of military aid to Egypt that was suspended after the military takeover of the country in 2013.
Kerry also gave a highly cautious assessment ahead of the next round of nuclear talks with Iran, citing “important gaps” in the way of a deal before an end-of-March deadline.
Speaking at a government-sponsored economic development conference in the Red Sea resort city of Sharm elSheikh, Kerry intended to convey U.S. support for promises of economic liberalization laid out by President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, the former general who led the military takeover in 2013.
U.S.-made Apache helicopters buzzed low overhead during his remarks as a reminder of the importance that Egypt attaches to U.S. military aid.
In the aftermath of the takeover and a crackdown on supporters of the ousted president, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Obama administration suspended more than $700 million of the $1.3 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Egypt.
The failure to release all of the aid, including the delivery of some F-16 fighter planes, has become a major issue for el-Sissi’s government and among his supporters.
The government is struggling to squash a campaign of attacks against military and police personnel by Islamist militants based in the North Sinai, and el-Sissi’s supporters argue that his government needs the heavy weaponry and other aid to help fight the militants.
Last month, Egypt used some of its F-16s to carry out an airstrike aimed at Islamist militants in the Libyan city of Darnah, in retaliation for the beheading of a group of Egyptian Christians by allied militants in another Libyan city.
Congress has required Barack Obama’s administration to certify that Egypt is taking steps toward democracy or to issue a national security waiver sidestepping that requirement before restoring the military aid.
Either step would open the administration to criticism from human-rights groups. They argue that Egypt has made little or no progress toward democracy or to correct its rights abuses, sometimes recalling Obama’s past statements about the importance of such U.S. values.
But asked about the F-16s on Saturday, Kerry appeared to indicate that he expected the full shipment would soon be on its way.
“I really expect a decision very soon,” he said. He did not comment on the possibility of either a certification or a waiver.
On Friday, Kerry ended a speech at the conference by saying, “I promise you, directly from President Obama and from this administration, the full commitment of the United States in this journey towards security, shared prosperity, and peace that the Egyptian people both desire and deserve.”
But on the Obama administration’s No. 1 foreign-policy priority, talks with Iran to curb its nuclear program, Kerry was circumspect Saturday.
He said only a negotiated agreement could provide long-term assurance that Tehran would not develop nuclear weapons. But with a deadline just two weeks away, he could not say whether the United States and other world powers would be able to reach a framework accord with the Iranians or even were close.
“We have made some progress but there are still gaps, important gaps, and important choices that need to be made by Iran in order to move forward,” Kerry said in Sharm elSheikh. “The purpose of these negotiations is not just to get any deal,” he said. “It is to get the right deal.”
Negotiators are talking about freezing Iran’s uranium and plutonium programs for at least a decade in exchange for a gradual easing of economic pressure on the Iranians.
Many in Congress say the U.S. should hold out for greater dismantlement of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. But opponents of a deal have been vague about what types of continued nuclear activity — if any — they would deem acceptable.
“What’s the alternative?” Kerry asked. “In previous years when U.S. policy was not to talk to Iran and insist at the same time that they can have no nuclear program, whatsoever, the number of centrifuges skyrocketed. Every time negotiations have broken down in the past, Iran’s nuclear program has advanced.”
Kerry, who was schedule to travel today to Lausanne, Switzerland, for several days of discussions with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, noted the Islamic Republic’s long-standing claims that it has no interest in assembling a nuclear arsenal. Its leaders have issued a fatwa, or formal religious ruling, against such weapons.
The United States, he said, has “great respect for the religious importance of a fatwa.” But negotiators need an agreement that translates that commitment into an agreement that can “guarantee that Iran’s program will be peaceful now and peaceful forever.”
“We still don’t know whether or not we will get there,” Kerry said. “It may be that Iran simply can’t say yes to the type of deal that the international community is looking for, but owe it to the future of everybody in the world to try to find out.”