Obama says would move fast to take Cuba off terrorism sponsor list

PRESIDENT Barack Obama vowed yesterday to act quickly once he receives a State Department recommendation on whether to remove Cuba from the US list of terrorism-sponsoring countries, a remaining obstacle to the restoration of relations between Washington and Havana.

With just days to go before a hemispheric summit in Panama where Obama will come face-to-face with Cuban President Raul Castro, he offered no clear sign of how he was leaning or the timeframe for his decision. He ordered the review immediately after announcing a diplomatic breakthrough with Havana on December 17.

Obama, in a Reuters interview in early March, said he hoped the United States would be able to open an embassy in Cuba by the time of the April 10-11 Summit of the Americas, and US officials have since said the review was being expedited.

But the lack of a decision so far on taking Cuba off the terrorism blacklist — something Havana has steadfastly demanded — has raised strong doubts about whether the review will be finished in time to make further strides toward normalisation before the summit.

“As soon as I get a recommendation, I’ll be in a position to act on it,” Obama said in an interview with National Public Radio.

Obama gave no sense of where the administration is heading on the issue but made clear that his decision would be based not on “whether they engage in repressive or authoritarian activities in their own country” but on the “current activities of the Cuban government” with regard to terrorism.

Cuba was added to the list of terrorism sponsors in 1982, when it was aiding Marxist insurgencies. But it is currently aiding a peace process with Colombia’s left-wing FARC guerrillas.

“I think there’s a real opportunity here, and we’re going to continue to make – move forward on it,” Obama said. “Our hope is to be in a position where we can open an embassy there, that we can start having more regular contacts and consultations around a whole host of issues, some of which we’ve interests in common.”

He added: “What I’m saying is, I’m going to be taking a very close look at what the State Department recommends.”

Meanwhile, Obama said yesterday he is confident sanctions against Iran could be reimposed if Tehran violates an agreement to restrict its nuclear programme.

Obama told National Public Radio (NPR) that U.S. and European negotiators are trying to reach a deal with Iran in which sanctions could be reimposed without a U.N. Security Council vote, where Tehran-ally Russia would have a veto.

“We’re absolutely convinced we can do it again,” Obama said of the international sanctions, which have crippled Iran’s economy.

He said a reimposition of sanctions would be triggered by a finding of the International Atomic Energy Agency that Tehran had broken the agreement.

After reaching a framework deal last week, negotiators face an end-of-June deadline to reach a final agreement meant to prevent Iran from being able to build a nuclear weapon.

Obama said a nuclear deal could help strengthen moderate elements in Iran.

“If they’re shown to have delivered for their people, presumably it strengthens their hand vis-a-vis some of the hardliners inside of Iran,” he said.

Obama also took a swipe at Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2016, who has vowed to scrap any deal with Iran on his first day in office if elected.

Obama said if presidents were to withdraw from international agreements reached by their predecessors it would be a problem for US allies and “embolden our enemies.”

“It would be a foolish approach to take, and, you know, perhaps Walker, after he’s taken some time to bone up on foreign policy, will feel the same way,” Obama said.

In an excerpt released on Monday, Obama poured cold water on an Israeli demand that a deal be predicated on Tehran recognising Israel.

“The notion that we would condition Iran not getting nuclear weapons in a verifiable deal on Iran recognising Israel is really akin to saying that we won’t sign a deal unless the nature of the Iranian regime completely transforms,” Obama said.

“That’s, I think, a fundamental misjudgment,” he said.

Obama said a nuclear deal would not solve many of the other disagreements Washington has with Tehran.

“They’re still going to be financing Hezbollah. They’re still supporting Assad dropping barrel bombs on children. They’re still sending arms to the Houthis in Yemen that have helped destabilise the country.” — Reuters.