Tuesday, 14 July 2015

Iran Nuclear Deal Sealed in ’Historic Moment’, ’New Horizons’ Opened

Foreign ministers from Iran and major powers have signed on Tuesday the final agreement regarding the nuclear program of the Islamic Republic in a win-win deal for both sides.

Iranian President Sheikh Hassan Rouhani said the new nuclear deal will open "new horizons" now that "this unnecessary crisis" has been resolved.

In a message on his Twitter account, Sheikh Rouhani said the successful talks had shown "constructive engagement works."

There can now be "a focus on shared challenges", he added, referring to the takfiri groups that are waging threats across the world.

The final meeting between both parties was held in the ritzy Palais Coburg Hotel in the Austrian capital of Vienna, ahead of an expected formal announcement of a deal which will see Tehran scale down its nuclear activities in exchange for relief from sanctions.

The ministerial meeting was chaired by EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

Iran's FM Mohammad Jawad Zarif said the nuclear deal reached is a 'historic moment.'

The agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), will, according to Iranian officials, be presented to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which will adopt a resolution in seven to 10 days making the JCPOA an official document.

Based on the agreement, which has been concluded with due regard for Iran’s red lines, the world powers recognize Iran’s civilian nuclear program, including the country’s right to the complete nuclear cycle.

The UNSC sanctions against the Islamic Republic, including all economic and financial bans, will be lifted at once under a mutually agreed framework and through a new UN resolution.

None of the Iranian nuclear facilities will be dismantled or decomissioned.

Furthermore, nuclear research and development activities on all types of centrifuges, including advanced IR-6 and IR-8 machines, will continue.

The nuclear-related economic and financial restrictions imposed by the United States and the European Union (EU) targeting the Iranian banking, financial, oil, gas, petrochemical, trade, insurance and transport sectors will at once be annulled with the beginning of the implementation of the agreement.

The arms embargo imposed against the Islamic Republic will be annulled and replaced with certain restrictions, which themselves will be entirely removed after a period of five years.
Additionally, tens of billions of dollars in Iranian revenue frozen in foreign banks will be unblocked.

A total of 800 natural persons and legal entities, including the Central Bank of Iran (CBI), the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), will be taken off sanctions lists.

Following several extensions of official and unofficial deadlines in the latest round of the nuclear negotiations, there were increasing signs that an agreement was imminent on Tuesday.