A comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear programme has been done, diplomats in Vienna said, bringing to an end a 12-year standoff that had threatened to trigger a new war in the Middle East.
Reports are in that world powers have reached a comprehensive agreement with Iran that will govern its nuclear program for over a decade, culminating a two-year diplomatic effort in which the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, led by the United States, have sought to end a twelve-year crisis over Iran's suspicious nuclear program.
More details as they emerge.
Another Big F'in Day, Thank You President Obama!
<ITV News (UK) has the latest:
Details emerge on historic Iran deal
UN missile sanctions on Iran will remain in place for five years under the deal reached on Iran's nuclear programme, according to diplomats cited by the Reuters news agency.
The deal also allows for the restoration of sanctions within 65 days - a so-called snapback plan - in the event of non-compliance by Tehran, the Reuters' sources said.
These issues were among the biggest sticking points in the months of negotiations preceding the announcement of nuclear deal this morning.
Foreign ministers from Iran and the six negotiating powers are due to meet in Vienna at 09.30 UK time and will announce the details of the historic deal at a press conference.
UPDATES: From The Guardian:
Details are emerging of possible details of the agreement
I should stress again that we have not yet seen the deal officially. But the Guardian’s Julian Borger, who is in Vienna and has been following the years of twists and turns of the negotiations, sends this insight:
I understand the agreement involves arrangements for IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) inspections of suspect sites, including military sites, but it will be ‘managed access’, rather than the unfettered access reported by Reuters.
Managed access is envisaged under an IAEA additional protocol inspection regime. If the inspectors have reason to believe there is undeclared nuclear activity at a site, it would present its reasons for wanting to visit it.
Some form of committee made up of representatives of a range of IAEA member states will adjudicate access. It would not be access ‘anywhere, any time’.
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The BBC chimes in:
A deal on limiting Iran's nuclear programme in return for the lifting of sanctions has been reached at talks in Vienna, diplomats say.
The deal reportedly includes a compromise over the inspection of Iranian nuclear sites.
The EU announced a "final plenary" meeting at 08:30 GMT, followed by a news conference.
NBC is on it:
Iran Nuclear Deal: Tehran, World Powers Agree to Historic Pact
Iran and world powers have reached a historic deal under which Tehran will curb its nuclear program in exchange for the easing of economic sanctions, NBC News confirmed early Tuesday.
Tehran has been negotiating with the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China for years, with diplomats extending a series of deadlines in hopes of arriving at a workable plan.
The deal — reached after marathon overnight negotiations in Vienna — overcame stiff opposition from close U.S. allies Israel and Saudi Arabia, who say Iran cannot be trusted with a nuclear program of any kind.
It involves offering sanctions relief to Tehran only once Iran has achieved agreed upon limitations on its nuclear program.
And now the New York Times:
Iran and a group of six nations led by the United States have agreed to a historic accord to significantly limit Tehran’s nuclear ability for more than a decade in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions against Iran, a senior Western diplomat involved in the negotiations said on Tuesday. The Western diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing confidential talks, signaled that all of the main outstanding issues had been resolved, including the thorny question of how many years an embargo on conventional arms shipments into and out of Iran would remain in place.
The agreement and its annexes run more than 80 pages, Iranian officials said, outlining in painstaking detail how much nuclear fuel Iran can keep in the country for the next 15 years; what kind of research and development it can perform on centrifuges and other nuclear equipment; and the redesign of both a nuclear reactor and a deep-underground enrichment site that Israeli and American officials feared could be invulnerable to bombing.
But to strike the deal, Mr. Kerry and the other negotiators had to accept an understanding that essentially left in place most of Iran’s infrastructure at the country’s main nuclear sites, though much of it would be disassembled and put in storage. Iran is likely to cite that fact as evidence that it never gave in to the West’s demands that it dismantle its critical facilities.
A little schadenfreude courtesy of HuffPoUK:
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