Iran and six major world powers reached a nuclear deal on Tuesday,
capping more than a decade of on-off negotiations with an agreement that could
potentially transform the Middle East.
Under the deal,
sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union and United Nations would
be lifted in return for Iran agreeing long-term curbs on a nuclear programme
that the West has suspected was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb.
Reaching a deal
is a major policy victory for both US President Barack Obama and Iran’s
President Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist elected two years ago on a vow to reduce
Iran’s diplomatic isolation.
Both men face
scepticism from powerful hardliners at home after decades of enmity between
countries that referred to each other as “the Great Satan” and a
member of the “axis of evil”.
Final talks in
Vienna involved nearly three weeks of intense round-the-clock negotiations
between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad
Javad Zarif.
Western
diplomats said under the final agreement, Iran had accepted a “snapback”
mechanism, under which some sanctions could be reinstated in 65 days if it
violated the deal. A U.N. weapons embargo would remain in place for five years
and a ban on buying missile technology would remain for eight years.
“All the
hard work has paid off and we sealed a deal. God bless our people,” one
Iranian diplomat told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
But hostility
to the agreement from Washington’s closest ally in the Middle East was
immediate.
“This deal
is a historic surrender by the West to the axis of evil headed by Iran,”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said in a message on Twitter.
“Israel will act with all means to try and stop the agreement being
ratified.”
The foreign
ministers of Iran and the six powers will meet at 0830 GMT at the United
Nations centre in Vienna and a news conference will follow, a spokeswoman for
the European Union said on Tuesday.
Iran’s Foreign
Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Federica
Mogherini are expected to read a joint statement, diplomats said.
A deal will
still face scrutiny by the US Congress, controlled by opposition Republicans
who are sceptical of the Obama administration’s overtures to a country that has
been an enemy since Iranian revolutionaries stormed the US embassy in Tehran in
1979.
US allies in
the region, particularly Israel and Saudi Arabia, are also worried about an
agreement that would benefit Iran.
Tehran does not
recognise Israel and supports its enemies. Arab states ruled by Sunni Muslims,
particularly Saudi Arabia believe Iran supports their foes in wars in Syria,
Yemen and elsewhere.
But there is
also strong reason for the United States to improve its relations with Iran, as
the two countries face a common foe in ISIL, the Sunni Muslim militant
group that has seized swathes of Syria and Iraq.
For Iran, the
end of sanctions could bring a rapid economic boom by lifting restrictions that
have drastically cut its oil exports and hurt its imports. The prospect of a
deal has helped push down global oil prices because of the possibility that
Iranian supply could return to the market.
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