Lausanne: Iran and six world powers yesterday agreed on the framework of a potentially historic deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear drive after marathon talks in Switzerland.
It marks a major breakthrough in a 12-year stand-off between Iran and the West, which has long feared Tehran wants to build a nuclear bomb, and raised hopes the deal could help stability in the Middle East.
US President Barack Obama welcomed the “historic understanding” with Iran after decades of hostility but cautioned that more work needed to be done.
“If Iran cheats, the world will know it,” he said in a televised address from the White House.
He invited key Arab allies to a spring summit at the presidential retreat at Camp David.
Iran agreed to sharply curtail its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions that have crippled its economy.
But Israel branded the deal a “historic mistake”.
The main outlines agreed after eight days of talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne have to be finalised in a complex agreement by June 30.
Failure may set the US and Israel on a road to military action to thwart Iran’s nuclear drive and keep Tehran out in the cold on the international stage.
US Secretary of State John Kerry hailed a “big day” while Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the drafting of a full accord would begin immediately to complete it by the deadline.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the US and the EU will lift nuclear-related sanctions once the UN atomic agency has verified that Iran has stuck to the deal.
And the US said all past UN nuclear resolutions on Iran would also be lifted.
Kerry said Iran’s stocks of highly enriched uranium will be cut by 98 percent for 15 years and its Arak reactor will stop producing weapons-grade plutonium.
The Fordo facility, built deep into a mountain, will remain open but will not be used for enrichment but for research and development.
Iranian media said the deal will include Tehran slashing by two-thirds — to 6,000 from 19,000 — the number of centrifuges, which can make fuel for nuclear power but also the core of a nuclear bomb. The so-called P5+1 group — the US, Britain, China, France and Russia plus Germany — hope the deal will make it virtually impossible for Iran to make nuclear weapons.
France, which has taken a hawkish line during the negotiations, warned that sanctions could be reimposed if Tehran does not fully keep its side of the bargain. AFP
