Colombian Peace Agreement Removed from Nobel Peace Prize Nominees; Will Iran Nuclear Deal Participants Win?

The Nobel Peace Research Institute removed the Colombian peace agreement from this year's Nobel Peace Prize nominees following the negative outcome of a referendum regarding the peace deal between the government and the leftist FARC rebels in Colombia on Monday. According to Reuters, the majority of participants in the referendum on Sunday surprisingly voted against the peace agreement aimed at ending 52 years of armed conflict between government forces and the FARC rebel group. Opponents argue that the agreement grants too many concessions to the FARC rebels. The institute stated that with the removal of the Colombian peace agreement from the list of nominees, the chances of other nominees, including human rights activists in Russia and actors involved in the negotiations that led to last year's nuclear agreement between Iran and global powers, have increased for receiving this award. Christian Berg Harpviken, the head of the Nobel Peace Research Institute, said on Monday, October 12, regarding this year's Nobel Peace Prize, which will be announced on Friday at 9 AM GMT, "Colombia has been removed from the list of credible nominees." Before the referendum in Colombia, many predicted that Manuel Santos, the President of Colombia, and Rodrigo Londoño, the senior commander of the FARC rebels, were the main candidates for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. The cash prize for the Nobel Peace Prize is eight million Swedish kronor, equivalent to $936,000. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded for years to architects of peace around the world. This award was given in 1998 to the leaders of the Protestant and Catholic parties in Northern Ireland, in 1994 for the Oslo peace agreement to the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians, and in 1973 for peace in Vietnam. Asle Solem, a prominent historian of the history of these awards, previously stated that the peace agreement in Colombia would win this year's prize for ending an armed conflict that has claimed over 220,000 victims. However, he also said on Monday, "The Colombian peace agreement has no chance now." According to him, the nuclear agreement between Iran and global powers, aimed at lifting sanctions in exchange for reducing Tehran's nuclear activities, now has the highest chance of receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. Likely recipients of this award include John Kerry and Mohammad Javad Zarif, the foreign ministers of the United States and Iran, and Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief. Christian Berg Harpviken, whose proposed list includes the Colombian peace agreement in second place among 376 nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize, emphasized on Monday that his supported nominee is Svetlana Gannushkina, a Russian human rights activist who works to assist migrants and refugees. Thousands of people, including members of parliament from around the world, international relations professors, and previous Nobel Peace Prize winners can propose their nominees to the responsible committee. The Norwegian Foreign Minister, who played an active role in signing the Colombian peace agreement, expressed regret over the referendum's outcome against this agreement and added, "We must try to save this agreement."