P5+1 and Iran agree landmark nuclear deal at Geneva talks

Published time: November 24, 2013 02:00
Edited time: November 24, 2013 02:32





Tags
China, EU, France, Germany, Iran, Meeting, Nuclear, Russia, UK, USA

The P5+1 world powers and Iran have struck a historic deal on Tehran’s nuclear program at talks in Geneva on Sunday. Ministers overcame the last remaining hurdles to reach agreement, despite strong pressure from Israel and lobby groups.
No particular details of the deal have been immediately made public.

#EU High Rep #Ashton: "We have reached agreement between E3+3 and Iran."
— Michael Mann (@EUHighRepSpox) November 24, 2013

We have reached an agreement.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) November 24, 2013

The French delegation has also confirmed the deal.
US President Obama is expected to deliver a speech on the historic resolution within the next hour.


The P5+1 and Iran arrived at the historic deal over Iran’s nuclear program at approximately 3:00 AM local time in Geneva.
Before the assembly, the foreign ministers reportedly spent some time consulting with their capitals, a diplomatic source in the Russian delegation told Ria.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stressed on Saturday that “for the first time in many years the six world powers and Iran have a real opportunity to reach agreement.”
The tough discussions of the remaining sticking point of nuclear enrichment has stretched into the night, as the world powers were adamant to strike a deal.
According to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, shortly before midnight, the talks were in “their 11th hour.” He said that “98 percent of the draft” had already been agreed and the sides were discussing the remaining 2 percent, which was “very important” to the Iranian side.
During the day Iran once again reiterated it would not accept a deal which did not recognize in one way or another Iran’s right to enrich uranium.
“Any agreement without recognizing Iran's right to enrich, practically and verbally, will be unacceptable for Tehran,” Araghchi told journalists.
DETAILS TO FOLLOW

http://rt.com/news/iran-historic-nuclear-deal-201/

People of Iran are very happy for this deal and I think Israel, Saudi Arabian regime and no doubt AIPAC and the senators who are Israel fan in the US are the loser. We have seen good movements from Iranians politicians after Iran election. I hope the other middle east crisis's be solved very soon.

Originally Posted by hamidreza

People of Iran are very happy for this deal and I think Israel, Saudi Arabian regime and no doubt AIPAC and the senators who are Israel fan in the US are the loser. We have seen good movements from Iranians politicians after Iran election. I hope the other middle east crisis's be solved very soon.

I havent seen many details on it as yet but if everyone involved is happy then it seems like a win for everyone except Netanyahu, with luck it will sink in to Israel just how little standing they have in the world and they will replace him with someone a bit more realistic and willing to solve problems.

Local newspaper had a failry good write up on it...

Analysis: Iran deal leaves Israel few options

Updated 11:46 AM Monday Nov 25, 2013

After feverishly trying to derail the international community's nuclear deal with Iran in recent weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now has little choice but to accept an agreement that he has derided as deeply flawed.
Netanyahu believes the six-month deal leaves Iran's military nuclear capabilities largely intact, while giving Iran relief from painful economic sanctions, undermining negotiations on the next stage. At the same time, Israel's strongest piece of leverage, the threat of a military strike on Iran, seems to be out of the question despite Netanyahu's insistence it would remain on the table.
"Today the world became a much more dangerous place because the most dangerous regime in the world made a significant step in obtaining the most dangerous weapons in the world," Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday, calling the deal a "historic mistake".
He said Israel was not bound by the agreement, and reiterated Israel's right to "defend itself by itself," a veiled reference to a possible military strike against Iran.

Netanyahu has spent years warning the world against the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran, calling it an existential threat due to Iranian references to Israel's destruction, its support of hostile militant groups on Israel's borders and its development of missiles capable of reaching Israel and beyond.
Israel also believes that a nuclear-armed Iran will provide militant groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah an "umbrella" of protection that will embolden them to carry out attacks.
As momentum for a deal built the past week, Netanyahu delivered speech after speech and held meeting after meeting, urging the world to seek better terms from Iran. Last week, he hosted French President Francois Hollande, then rushed off to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin in a last-ditch attempt to alter the agreement.
Netanyahu had said that any deal must ensure that Iran's enriching of uranium - a key step toward making a nuclear bomb - must end. He also said all enriched material should be removed from the Islamic Republic, and called for the demolition of a plutonium reactor under construction.
But after the deal was announced, it was clear that Netanyahu made little headway. While freezing parts of Iran's enrichment capabilities, it will leave others, including the centrifuges that are used for enrichment, intact. The deal relies heavily on Iranian goodwill, a still-to-be-defined system of international inspections and the continued pain of sanctions that remain in place.
Yoel Guzansky, who used to monitor the Iranian nuclear program for Israel's National Security Council, said a deal that would satisfy Israel was unlikely from the outset due to differing "red lines" between Israel and the US.
While Israel sees any enrichment as a cause for concern, the US was willing to tolerate nuclear development as long as it was unable to produce weapons, said Guzansky, who is now an analyst at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank.
"It's a bad agreement because of what it symbolizes," he said. "It means Iran is getting an acceptance, a signature that it's a legitimate country." Even worse for Israel, he added, the agreement amounts to "acceptance of Iran as a nuclear threshold state."
US officials said the deal was just a first step and further negotiations aim for a final agreement that would prevent any threat from Iran's nuclear program.
They said the relief from sanctions was minimal and that the most biting economic measures, including sanctions on Iran's vital oil industry, remained in place and more could be imposed if Iran fails to follow through.
Guzansky predicted that despite the tough rhetoric, Israel would move quickly to repair relations with the US, its closest and most important ally, and do everything possible to influence the outcome of the world's final-status talks with Iran.
That could include speeches, threats of military action or behind-the-scenes diplomacy. Israel is not a direct participant in the talks but remains in close contact with many of the negotiators.
The relationship with the US will be critical as Israel conducts peace talks with the Palestinians in the coming months. US Secretary of State John Kerry, who is mediating the talks, has set an April target date for reaching an agreement, and there is widespread speculation that the Americans will step up their involvement as the deadline approaches.
Guzansky also said Israel's main card - military action - appears to be out of the question right now.
"How can Israel, after the entire international community sat with Iran, shook hands with Iran and signed an agreement, operate independently?" he said. "It will be seen as someone who sabotages 10 years of trying to get Iran to the table and trying to get a deal."
Enrichment is at the heart of the dispute because it can be used for peaceful purposes or for producing a nuclear bomb. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for civilian usage such as energy production and cancer treatment.
Uranium at low levels of enrichment, up to 20 percent, is used in research or generating electricity. Uranium must be enriched to a far higher level - above 90 percent - to produce a warhead. So far, Iran is not known to have produced any at that level, but Israel argues that the technology for doing so is the same as that for enriching at lower levels.
Under the compromise, enrichment would be capped at the 5 percent level, and Iran's stockpile of 20 percent uranium would be "neutralised," effectively preventing it from reaching weapons-grade level. Also construction on the plutonium reactor is to be suspended. The White House also promised "intrusive monitoring" of Iranian nuclear facilities.
Israel says any enriched uranium in Iranian hands is potentially dangerous, since its centrifuges can quickly convert it to weapons grade. Israel believes that Iran's ability to keep its nuclear infrastructure intact will allow it to quickly resume the program if the later talks fail.
"Iran is a threshold nuclear country," said Netanyahu's Cabinet minister for intelligence affairs, Yuval Steinitz. "So far it was completely against UN security resolutions, and now it gets some kind of recognition at least for the next six months as a threshold nuclear country."
In all, about 250 kilograms of highly enriched uranium is needed to make a weapon. Iran already has about 200 kilograms of enriched uranium.
Ephraim Asculai, a former official at Israel's Atomic Energy Commission, said Sunday's agreement was not all bad for Israel, since it capped enrichment activity and slowed construction of the plutonium reactor. But he said Iran's ability to "break out" and make a nuclear explosive device remained intact, perhaps in as little as four to six months once a decision is made.
"The good part of the deal is that enrichment stops at the present level and that is also some of the bad news because enrichment does go on," he said.

Anatomy of Iranian nuclear deal

Moments after Iran and world powers signed a landmark nuclear deal, US Secretary of State John Kerry was already looking ahead to the "even more difficult" efforts to probe Tehran's atomic capabilities and try to ease international concerns that they cannot be diverted for weapons development. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, meanwhile, said his country is ready to "remove created doubts" about Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran insists is fully peaceful.
Both Kerry's predictions and Rouhani's promises will shape the next six months in the first step of an accord that could help redefine the politics of the region and reset relations between the US and Iran after nearly 35 years of mutual recriminations and suspicions. Tough and expansive UN inspections are ahead. Iran also must keep up its end of the bargain with measures such as curbing uranium enrichment and halting work on a new reactor.
Here is a look at the demands, the details and the political ripples from the deal hammered out in Geneva:

Winners and losers in Iran's nuclear deal The political balance sheet from the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers.
WINNERS
DIPLOMACY: A 15-minute phone call in late September between US President Barack Obama and Iran's new president, Hassan Rouhani, did more than break the diplomatic ice that had accumulated over 34 years. It became a rallying cry for those urging to revive stalled nuclear talks and test the "new era" claims of the moderate-leaning Rouhani after his election in June. The UN's annual General Assembly also had a shining moment as the backdrop for the outreach that led to the latest round of talks in Geneva.
ASIAN OIL CUSTOMERS: Sanctions on Iran's oil exports will remain in place during the six-month period covered by the deal, but world powers promise no new economic measures against Tehran as long as compliance moves ahead. This is good news for energy-hungry Asian economies such as India, China and Japan, which have received US waivers to continue Iranian oil imports. The waivers are likely to remain and the prospect of further talks - if the first-step provisions go smoothly - could begin to peel back the wider restrictions on oil sales.
DUBAI: Long before the Gulf city-state was a symbol of gilded excess, it prospered as a commercial crossroads with places such as Iran. Its ports and air cargo terminals were once brimming with Iran-bound goods. Sanctions have sharply cut into the traditional trade and livelihood of many in the large Iranian expatriate community in Dubai. Anything that brings back Iranian business, even in limited steps, is welcome in Dubai. A statement from the United Arab Emirates said the deal "represents a step toward a permanent solution that preserves the stability of the region and protects it against nuclear proliferation concerns and risks".
IRAN'S PRESIDENT: Rouhani often pitched the nuclear talks as a potential for a "win-win" outcome with the West. On one level, he got his take by securing a deal that allows Iran to maintain uranium enrichment - although at lower levels. His hard-line opponents would have pounced on anything that could have sacrificed Iran's nuclear self-sufficiency. It was likely Rouhani could have gone that route in any event. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said giving up enrichment was a "red line" in the talks.
LOSERS
ISRAEL: The message came quickly and loudly from Jerusalem: The deal is a mistake and puts Israel in greater peril. Many Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, see Iran's ability to enrich uranium as a recipe for potential disaster. Enrichment produces nuclear fuel for reactors but can also make weapons-grade material. No amount of persuasion from Israel's American allies could shake Netanyahu and others from the belief that Iran is a threat as long as it can enrich uranium. Netanyahu must now try to mend relations with Washington and weigh the significant risks of turning his back on the West and considering possible unilateral military options.
SAUDI ARABIA: The oil-rich kingdom has to adjust to an unfamiliar role as opponents, rather than confidants, of Washington. First, Saudi leaders were dismayed when the US abandoned longtime ally ex-Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the fate of the Arab Spring uprising in 2011. Then Saudi authorities were angered by the US decision to pull back from possible military strikes on the forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad - attacks that could have helped the rebel forces closely aided by Riyadh and other Gulf states. Saudi Arabia now sees the Iran deal as favouring its regional rival and diminishing the Gulf role in US policy-shaping. It's unlikely, though, to stop the major Saudi military purchases from American defence contractors.
EGYPT: The military-backed leaders in Cairo have rolled back much of the Iran outreach by the Muslim Brotherhood-led government ousted in July. The nuclear deal and the possibility of expanding US-Iran dialogue could cut into Egypt's traditional standing as the guiding force in shaping Western policy in the region.
- AP

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news...ectid=11162445

a nice title from Yahoo:
Special Report: 'Great Satan' meets 'Axis of Evil' and strikes a deal



http://news.yahoo.com/special-report...002940755.html

This was also said to be a good deal:



In six months we know more.

Odd how history repeats isnt it...



But in the case of Iran you have a nation that is only in the "bad books" because it made America look silly some 30 years ago, I can not recall a nation it has invaded nor land that it has siezed in living memory and it was an Iranian initiative that led to this agreement, on the other hand the only nation whinging on about it is Israel a nation that behaves like a parasite, has continually expanded its borders, shows no concern for international law and is slowly attempting to wipe out one religious group by driving them from their land and striping them of their posessions so I certainly can see how you would use the Munich agreement as an analogy as Israel is very much like Nazi Germany and about as transperant.

It's about time some type of resolution comes of Iran/US relations. Iran and the US need to work together as friends, not enemies. Honestly, I'd prefer to have Iran as an ally than Israel...at least Iran has a right to be pissed off.

Screw Netanyahu, he wants a war with Iran SO bad...of course Israeli blood won't be spilled in that war...It'll be American.

And seriously VDKMS... You're comparing this deal to Munich?... How dramatically ineffective. You're understanding of history must be very simplistic if that's the conclusion you draw from this.

Sounds like a lot of wishfull thinking to me. A nuclear Saudi Arabia next in responce? I see even here the Iranians are celebrating victory over Obozo.

Who cares if they are touting it as a victory. It is a political necessity for them to do so to validate their diplomatic process no matter what the outcome is. A breakthrough has been made, which was inconceivable just a few months ago. This is good. We should be happy about that. As far as a nuclear armed Saudi, I wouldn't count on it...I can't elaborate more on that issue, but I can assure you they're not even close. The Iranians don't have to be our enemy. Their population largely doesn't want that. Just because their leadership seems about as "competent" as ours, many here seem to think their people follow suit. If you believe that then there is nothing really to talk about because then you're just an ideologue....which means I'd have more success convincing the pope he's not catholic.