GENEVA: Iran and six world powers clinched a historic deal yesterday curbing the Iranian nuclear programme in exchange for initial sanctions relief, signalling the start of a game-changing rapprochement that would reduce the risk of a wider Middle East war.
Aimed at easing a long festering standoff, the interim pact between Iran and the United States, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia won the critical endorsement of Iranian clerical Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“While today’s announcement is just a first step, it achieves a great deal,” US President Barack Obama said in an address from the White House. 
“For the first time in nearly a decade, we have halted the progress of the Iranian nuclear programme, and key parts of the programme will be rolled back.”
Under the deal, Tehran will limit uranium enrichment to low levels that can only be used for civilian energy purposes. 
It will neutralise its stockpile of uranium enriched to higher 20-percent purity — very close to weapons-grade — within six months, US Secretary of State John Kerry said in Geneva after clinching the deal.
Iran will not add to its stockpile of low-enriched uranium, nor install more centrifuges or commission the Arak heavy-water reactor, which could produce plutonium fissile material.  UN atomic inspectors will also have additional, “unprecedented” access, Kerry said, including daily site inspections at the two enrichment facilities of Fordo and Natanz.
In exchange, the Islamic republic will receive some $7bn (5.2bn euros) in sanctions relief and the powers promised to impose no new embargo measures for six months if Tehran sticks to the accord. But the vast raft of international sanctions remain untouched.
World leaders hailed the deal as a triumph for diplomacy. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the deal “could turn out to be the beginnings of a historic agreement” for the Middle East. 
Russia said it was a win-win deal, while China said the document would support stability in the Middle East. 
France called the deal “an important step in the right direction”. Khamenei hailed the deal as an “achievement”.
Iran’s Gulf Arab adversaries, nervous of the rehabilitation of their long-standing regional rival, were tight-lipped about the agreement. But Israel, Iran’s arch-enemy a US ally, denounced the agreement as an “historic mistake”. 
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has been coordinating diplomatic contacts with Iran on behalf of the major powers, said the accord created time and space for follow-up talks on a comprehensive solution to the dispute.
“This is only a first step,” said Iranian Foreign Minister and chief negotiator Mohammad Javad Zarif. “We need to start moving in the direction of restoring confidence, a direction which we have managed to move against in the past.” 
Zarif said that Iran would move quickly to start implementing the agreement and it was ready to begin talks on a final accord.  
Agencies
 

A step towards stability: Qatar

Doha: Qatar yesterday welcomed the agreement reached at Geneva talks between Iran and the P5+1 countries on Iran’s nuclear programme. A Foreign Ministry official described the agreement as an important step towards safeguarding peace and stability in the region. 
“The State of Qatar calls for making the Middle East a nuclear weapon-free zone,” he said and stressed that Qatar is keen on stability and security in the region. 
He noted that the agreement is consistent with Qatar’s permanent stance that supports resolving the nuclear issue through negotiations and peaceful means. QNA