Iran nuclear: Geneva talks 'reach deal'

BBC News online -- 24 November 2013

Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif: "This is only the first step"

Iran and six world powers meeting in Geneva say they have reached a deal on Tehran's nuclear programme. 

Iran is to curb its nuclear activities, initially for six months, in return for limited relief from sanctions.
US President Barack Obama welcomed the deal, saying it included "substantial limitations which will help prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon".

But Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has insisted Iran retains its right to enrich uranium.

Tehran denies repeated claims by Western governments that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. It insists it must be allowed to enrich uranium for power stations.

What is in the agreement?

Iran has committed to:

• Halt all uranium enrichment above 5% purity
• Not install or use any next-generation centrifuges to enrich uranium
• Neutralise its stockpile of near-20% uranium
• Halt further advances of its activities at the heavy-water plant at Arak and halt progress on its plutonium track
• Increased monitoring by IAEA inspectors, including daily access at Natanz and Fordow nuclear sites
• Provide IAEA access to centrifuge assembly facilities, uranium mines and mills
• Provide more frequent inspector access to the Arak reactor

The P5+1 has committed to:

• Not impose new nuclear-related sanctions for six months
• Suspend certain sanctions on gold and precious metals, Iran's vehicle production industry, and petrochemical exports, potentially providing Iran $1.5bn (£900,000) in revenue
• License safety-related repairs and inspections inside Iran for certain Iranian airlines
• Allow purchases of Iranian oil to remain at their currently levels, giving Iran access to get access to $4.2bn in foreign exchange if it fulfils its commitments

Source: White House Press Office

After four days of negotiations, representatives of the so-called P5+1 group of nations - the US, the UK, Russia, China, France and Germany - reached an agreement with Iran in the early hours of Sunday morning. 

A final text of the deal has yet to be released, but EU foreign policy chief Baroness Catherine Ashton said it included "reciprocal measures by both sides".

She said the deal would be co-ordinated by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
In a televised address from Washington, US President Barack Obama said the measures agreed would "help prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon".

Mr Obama outlined what the deal contained, including a commitment by Iran to halt "certain levels of enrichment and neutralising part of its stockpiles" - an apparent reference to uranium enrichment above 5% purity, which is needed to create a nuclear bomb.

In return, he said Iran would "halt work at its plutonium reactor and new inspections will provide extensive access to Iran's nuclear facilities and allow the international community to verify whether Iran is keeping its commitments".

In his news conference in Geneva, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said it was an opportunity for the "removal of any doubts about the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme".

But he insisted that Iran had not given up its right to enrich uranium.

"We believe that the current agreement, the current plan of action as we call it, in two distinct places has a very clear reference to the fact that Iranian enrichment programme will continue and will be a part of any agreement, now and in the future," he said.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the agreement was "good news for the whole world".
'Significant agreement'
 
Sanctions on Iran would be relaxed, the US State Department said.

Restrictions on Iran's petrochemical exports and some other sectors would be suspended, bringing in $1.5bn in revenue.

No new sanctions would be imposed for six months, the State Department said.
Separate US, EU and UN sanctions have targeted Iran's energy and banking sectors, crippling its oil-based economy.

But Mr Obama warned that if Iran fail to keep its commitments, "we will turn off the relief and ratchet up the pressure".

This deal may be the most significant agreement between the world powers and Iran for a decade, says the BBC's Iran correspondent, James Reynolds, who is at the talks in Geneva.

Negotiators had been working since Wednesday to reach an agreement that was acceptable to both sides.

As hopes of a deal grew stronger, foreign ministers of the P5+1 joined them in Geneva.
But it only became clear that a breakthrough had been made in Geneva early on Sunday.

"We have reached an agreement," the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announced on his Twitter feed at about 03:00 (02:00 GMT), shortly after it was confirmed by Catherine Ashton's spokesman.