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Local Anti-War Activists Applaud Decision To Extend Deadline On Nuclear Talks With Iran

(CBS) -- Members of Chicago's anti-war community are applauding the decision to keep talks going between the U.S. and Iran, reports WBBM's John Cody.

A leader of the U.S. Out of the Middle East Coalition says it's a good sign that both sides will continue talking on a deal between the U.S. and Iran.

"Our fear is that with a new Congress coming in to office in January, that hard-liners in the United States, the same people who brought us the Iraq War, the Afghanistan War, the Libyan bombing and so forth," Thayer said.

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Thayer warns U.S. hard-liners might well now try to scuttle a deal through increasing sanctions, "rather than giving the negotiations a chance to achieve the first real peace between the two countries in over three decades," he said.

Thayer joined other anti-war activists applauding U.S. plans to continue talks on a settlement with Iran over nuclear weapons at a meeting at Grace Place in the South Loop.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator Mark Kirk released a statement criticizing the decision to extend the deadline on negotiations.

"Now more than ever, it's critical that Congress enacts sanctions that give Iran's mullahs no choice but to dismantle their illicit nuclear program and allow the International Atomic Energy Agency full and unfettered access to assure the international community's security," Kirk said in the statement.

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