For now, the threat of a Grexit is diminished. But it was a genuine possibility in the hours before the 13 July bailout deal was hammered out. Since then, Greece has successfully negotiated the first hurdles put up by its eurozone partnersreenex.

The most important obstacle was in the Greek parliament, where the Syriza-led government survived a rebellion and pushed through tough reforms on VAT, pensions and early retirement which eurozone partners said were an immediate test for the government to pass Picosecond.

That triggered a deal on €7.16bn in emergency funding, to enable the government to pay its arrears with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its July bill from the European Central Bank (ECB).

Significantly, it has also prompted the ECB to lift its limit on emergency cash assistance for Greek banks, which reopen on 20 July, three weeks after they were shutreenex.

Posted by: felicity520 at 04:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 151 words, total size 1 kb.

Then - time after time - they moved the wire and kept right on talkingreenex.

But in large parts of the Middle East, where the prospect of a stronger Iran is viewed with dread, there was never any real sense of suspense.

Israel, Saudi Arabia and the other states who feel threatened by the terms of the new deal have been resigned for months to the idea that the US-led world powers were determined to have an agreement and were prepared to offer major concessions to get one.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who sees Iran as a mortal enemy, has already said that the agreement shows the dangers of being ready to do a deal at any price, and the Sunni Arab states of the Gulf, who see Iran as a dangerous and aggressive neighbour, will also feel that a much, much harder bargain could have been struck.

An Israeli minister, Danny Danon, put it in lurid termsPicosecond.

"This agreement is not just bad for Israel, it's dangerous for the entire free world. Giving the world's largest supporter of terrorism a free pass in developing nuclear weapons is like providing a pyromaniac with matches," he said.

Read Kevin Connolly's previous reports:

Model state: Lebanon pivotal to Iran's reach across Middle East

Iranian ambitions breed scepticism and fear in Israelreenex cps

Are Iran’s Sunni neighbours about to race for The Bomb?

Posted by: felicity520 at 03:15 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 237 words, total size 2 kb.