The historic Iran deal signed a year ago has succeeded in rolling back Tehran's nuclear programme and avoiding further conflict, US President Barack Obama said today.
"Over the last year, the Iran Deal has succeeded in rolling back Iran's nuclear programme, avoiding further conflict and making us safer," Obama said in a statement issued on the occasion of the first anniversary of the conclusion of the Iran nuclear deal-known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)-by representatives of the United States, Iran, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Russia, and the European Union.
In the last one year, Obama said, Iran has implemented its nuclear-related commitments, as verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Iran has shipped out 98 per cent of its enriched uranium, dismantled two third of its centrifuges, filled its plutonium production reactor with concrete and adopted the most intrusive inspection and verification programme ever negotiated for a nuclear programme, he said.
"IAEA reports have confirmed that Iran is complying with its commitments. As a result, all of Iran's pathways to a nuclear weapon remain closed, and Iran's breakout time has been extended from two to three months to about a year," Obama said.
"The United States and our negotiating partners have also fully implemented our commitments to lift nuclear-related sanctions, and we will continue to uphold our commitments as long as Iran continues to abide by the deal," said the US President.
In France the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, said the year after the historic deal, critics have been proved wrong.
"A year after, a programme that so many people said will not work, a programme that people said is absolutely doomed to see cheating and be broken and will make the more dangerous, has, in fact, made the world safer, lived up to its expectations, and thus far produced an ability to be able to create a peaceful nuclear programme with Iran living up to its part of this bargain and obligation," he said.
