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Iran and six major world powers reached a nuclear deal on Tuesday, capping more than a decade of negotiations with an agreement that could transform West Asia.
Reaching the agreement did not bury the controversy of one of the most bitterly contested diplomatic issues of the day: While the European Union called it a “sign of hope for the entire world”, Israel termed it a “historic surrender”.
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Under the deal, sanctions imposed by the US, the European Union and the United Nations will be lifted in return for Iran agreeing to long-term curbs on a nuclear programme that the West suspects is aimed at creating a nuclear bomb. (NEW HORIZONS)
The agreement is a major victory for both US President Barack Obama and his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani, a pragmatist elected two years ago on a vow to reduce the diplomatic isolation of the country of 77 million people. But both face scepticism from hardliners at home after decades of enmity between nations that referred to each other as “the Great Satan” and a member of the “Axis of Evil”.
Rouhani was quick to present the deal as a step towards a wider goal of international cooperation. The deal “shows constructive engagement works”, he tweeted. “With this unnecessary crisis resolved, new horizons emerge with a focus on shared challenges.”
For Obama, diplomacy with Iran, begun in secret more than two years ago, ranks alongside his normalisation of ties with Cuba as landmarks in reaching out to enemies that tormented his predecessors for decades. While the main negotiations were between the US and Iran, four other UN Security Council permanent members — Britain, China, France and Russia —are also parties to the deal, as is Germany.
“Historic mistake”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal “a bad mistake of historic proportions”. “Iran will get a jackpot, a cash bonanza of hundreds of billions of dollars, which will enable it to continue to pursue its aggression and terror in the region and in the world,” he said. “Iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely termed the deal a “historic surrender”. She said on Twitter that Israel would “act with all means to try and stop the agreement being ratified”, a clear threat to try to use its influence to block it in the Republican-controlled US Congress.
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Congress has 60 days for a review, though if it rejects the deal, Obama can use his veto power. It would require two- thirds of lawmakers to override such a veto, which means to kill the deal, some of Obama’s fellow Democrats would have to rebel against one of their president’s signature achievements.
Iran isn’t likely to receive many of the benefits from the lifting of sanctions until next year because of the need to ratify the deal and verify its implementation.
“Celebrating too early can send a bad signal to the enemy,” Iranian conservative lawmaker Alireza Zakani was quoted as saying in parliament by Fars News agency. He noted Iran’s National Security Council would also review the deal, “and if they think it is against our national interests, we will not have a deal…The Islamic Republic will not sign a bad deal”.
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The final round of talks in Vienna involved about three weeks of intense negotiation between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. It was something that would, until recently, have been unthinkable for two countries, been bitter enemies since 1979, when Iranian revolutionaries stormed the US embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
“New chapter of hope”
“I believe this is an historic moment,” Zarif, educated in the US, told a news conference. “Today could have been the end of hope on this issue, but now we are starting a new chapter of hope. Let’s build on that.”
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, who acted as coordinator for the powers, said: “It is a decision that can open the way to a new chapter in international relations and show that diplomacy, coordination, cooperation can overcome decades of tensions and confrontations.
“I think this is a sign of hope for the entire world.”
Iran has long denied it is seeking a nuclear weapon and has insisted on the right to nuclear technology for peaceful means, though Western powers feared the enriched uranium it was stockpiling could be used to make a bomb. Obama never ruled out using military force if negotiations failed.
