Iran nuclear: Geneva talks 'reach deal'

Iran is to curb its nuclear activities, initially for six months, in return for limited relief from sanctions.
US President Barack Obama welcomed the deal, saying it included "substantial limitations which will help prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon".

But Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has insisted Iran retains its right to enrich uranium.

Tehran denies repeated claims by Western governments that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. It insists it must be allowed to enrich uranium for power stations.
A final text of the deal has yet to be released, but EU foreign policy chief Baroness Catherine Ashton said it included "reciprocal measures by both sides".

She said the deal would be co-ordinated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In a televised address from Washington, US President Barack Obama said the measures agreed would "help prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon".

Mr Obama outlined what the deal contained, including a commitment by Iran to halt "certain levels of enrichment and neutralising part of its stockpiles" - an apparent reference to uranium enrichment above 5% purity, which is needed to create a nuclear bomb.

In return, he said Iran would "halt work at its plutonium reactor and new inspections will provide extensive access to Iran's nuclear facilities and allow the international community to verify whether Iran is keeping its commitments".

In his news conference in Geneva, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said it was an opportunity for the "removal of any doubts about the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme".

But he insisted that Iran had not given up its right to enrich uranium.

"We believe that the current agreement, the current plan of action as we call it, in two distinct places has a very clear reference to the fact that Iranian enrichment programme will continue and will be a part of any agreement, now and in the future," he said.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the agreement was "good news for the whole world".
'Significant agreement'
 
Sanctions on Iran would be relaxed, the US State Department said.

Restrictions on Iran's petrochemical exports and some other sectors would be suspended, bringing in $1.5bn in revenue.

No new sanctions would be imposed for six months, the State Department said.
Separate US, EU and UN sanctions have targeted Iran's energy and banking sectors, crippling its oil-based economy.

But Mr Obama warned that if Iran fail to keep its commitments, "we will turn off the relief and ratchet up the pressure".

This deal may be the most significant agreement between the world powers and Iran for a decade, says the BBC's Iran correspondent, James Reynolds, who is at the talks in Geneva.

Negotiators had been working since Wednesday to reach an agreement that was acceptable to both sides.

As hopes of a deal grew stronger, foreign ministers of the P5+1 joined them in Geneva.
But it only became clear that a breakthrough had been made in Geneva early on Sunday.

"We have reached an agreement," the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on his Twitter feed at about 03:00 (02:00 GMT), shortly after it was confirmed by Catherine Ashton's spokesman.

Labels: Capitulation, G5+1, Iran, Negotiations, Nuclear Technology, Sanctions

posted by Pieface @ Sunday, November 24, 2013