Iran and six world powers agreed Sunday to a deal that limits its nuclear programme, achieving the first diplomatic breakthrough since Tehran’s nuclear activities came to light 10 years ago. Western leaders hailed their hard-won nuclear agreement but were quickly confronted by the scale of the six-month struggle ahead to reach a final settlement. For, while the US and its allies welcomed an accord that they hope will put Iran’s nuclear enrichment program on hold as talks continue,
it marks only the first stage in fraught negotiations. Within hours, Israel strongly condemned the interim deal as asking too little of Iran while taking off too much pressure. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it “is not a historic agreement – it is a historic mistake.”After a cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said the deal “has not made the world a safer place. … This agreement has made the world a much more dangerous place.” In Washington, US President Barack Obama said the agreement contained “substantial limitations, which will help prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon.” He attempted to reassure partners in the region: “The resolve of the United States will remain firm, as will our commitments to our friends and allies – particularly Israel and our Gulf partners, who have good reason to be skeptical about Iran’s intentions.” Obama later phoned Netanyahu, reaffirming US steadfastness with Israel in the wake of the deal, according to a White House statement. Some US Congressional leaders from both parties spoke out against the deal. Republican Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told CNN that he thought the US should be “ratcheting up those sanctions until Iran was willing … to give up its nuclear programme.” Eliot Engel, ranking Democrat on the committee, agreed: “I think we have to be very careful with the Iranians. I don’t trust them. I don’t think we should trust them. But I think we have to make it work.” House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi praised the deal as “an essential step toward meeting our ultimate objective: to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” The initial agreement runs six months, while Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States and Germany – known as the P5+1 – hope to reach a more comprehensive agreement with Iran. “Iran has never and will never seek nuclear weapons,” Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said shortly after the deal was struck. The agreement “recognized Iran’s nuclear rights,” he said, noting that his country’s nuclear “enrichment activities will proceed as similar to the past.” Russian President Vladimir Putin said the outcome proved that the international challenges and threats of today could be dealt with by working together with mutual respect, but emphasized that “still it is only the first step on a long and far-from-simple road.” China said the agreement would “help to maintain the international nuclear non-proliferation system, as well as stability in the Middle East.” Beijing’s foreign minister, Wang Yi, told Chinese state television, said: “It will also help all parties have better relations with Iran and help improve the lives of the people of Iran. …. The key issue now is implementation.” Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hailed the interim agreement and said it could serve as a “basis for future prudent measures.” But he also told Iranian negotiators to continue to resist any excessive demands. The deal allowed Iran to claim victory on its insistence to continue enriching uranium, even if only at low levels. Enrichment to higher levels is banned under the deal, as is further construction at the plutonium-producing reactor at Arak. The six powers are concerned that both higher-level uranium and plutonium could be turned into warheads. The agreement was reached after marathon negotiations in Geneva between Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his
counterparts from the five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany. “I hope that as we go along, we can start restoring the lost confidence” between the two sides, Zarif said. In return for Tehran’s nuclear concessions, the P5+1 pledged to suspend some sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Ending the crippling economic sanctions against Iran has been one of Rowhani’s main goals since he took office in August. The sanctions to be eased are related to petrochemicals, Iran’s car industry, trade in precious metals and oil revenue. The suspension will give Iran some 7 billion dollars worth of relief, according to the White House. However, key sanctions including on oil exports and foreign transactions will stay in place.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said some Iranian nuclear facilities would have to be shut for good in the final phase. Netanyahu insisted that Iran “is taking only cosmetic steps, which it could reverse easily within a few weeks and, in return, sanctions that took years to put in place are going to be eased.” French President Francois Hollande called the deal a “significant step in the right direction” toward the West normalizing relations with Iran. By VOR– Eurasia Review
