Deal reached under which Iran will ship its N-stockpile to Russia.
Vienna/Washington : Iran and six world powers on Tuesday reached a historic agreement that curbs Teh-ran’s nuclear programme in exchange for lifting decade-long economic sanctions.
Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and Germany are party to the agreement which was clinched after torturous talks with Iran in the Austrian capital. Under the deal, Iran would ship most of its nuclear stockpile to Russia, blocking the technical path to a nuclear bomb.
The deal is a high point of US President Barack Obama’s foreign policy and is part of the legacy that he wants to leave behind. It could herald a new relationship between the United States and Iran after decades of simmering tension. Obama, however, still has to sell the deal to the American Congress. In an early morning telecast, which was broadcast live in Iran, Obama said the agreement is “not built on trust — it is built on verification.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately slammed the development as a “historic mistake” that would empower rather than destroy a nuclear Iran. It would create a “terrorist nuclear superpower” he said and hinted that he remained “committed” to order military action against Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
But Obama disagreed. “Today, after two years of negotiation, the US together with the international community has achieved something that decades of animosity has not: a comprehensive long-term deal with Iran that will prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” the US President said from the White House. “Every pathway to a nuclear weapon is cut off,” CNN quoted Obama as saying. He said the deal provides for extensive inspections. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif described the deal as “a historic moment”. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani confirmed the deal on Twitter, saying it “shows constructive engagement works.”
