NO DICE – AT 9:18 A.M. ET:  As the deadline for concluding the Iran nuclear talks gets closer – it's November 24th – the talks seem to be going nowhere.  The Iranians may well be waiting for Obama to cave, and, based on his record, the wait may be worth it.  From The Wall Street Journal: 

MUSCAT, Oman—Two days of exhaustive negotiations between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif, in the Persian Gulf nation of Oman resulted in no significant breakthrough in forging a comprehensive agreement to curb Tehran’s nuclear program by a Nov. 24 diplomatic deadline, said senior U.S. and Iranian officials.

“Real gaps” remain between Washington and Tehran, said an American diplomat, in describing talks that seek to end a decade-long standoff over the future of Iran’s nuclear program.

Lower-level diplomacy between the U.S., Iran and other world powers continued on Tuesday in Muscat, as Mr. Kerry arrived in China to brief President Barack Obama on the status of the nuclear diplomacy.

“What we’ve said about this is that we may get there and we may not,” said a senior U.S. official who traveled with Mr. Kerry, referring to he prospects for a deal by late November. “I don’t think that anybody has said at any point recently that we are, quote-unquote ’on track’ to reach an agreement by the 24th.”

COMMENT:  Maybe reality is starting to set in.  Part of that reality is that Obama will now be facing a Republican Senate, and the GOP is serving notice that it expects to be involved in any decision to accept an agreement with Iran.

It would be best for the U.S. for the deadline to pass.  That would drag the talks into the time period after the new Senate and House are seated.  Our side, which is a lot more adult about dealing with Iran, would then be in place to confront Obama should a bad agreement come our way.

November 11, 2014