(Newswire.net — July 14, 2015) — Vienna, Austria – After 18 days of hard and intense negotiation, Iran agreed to stop its nuclear program in exchange for billions of dollars in relief from international sanctions, AP reported.
Reportedly, an agreement is designed to avert the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, which would prevent a new US military intervention in the Middle East.
According to the agreement, Iran agreed to stop curbing nuclear material which could be used for developing nuclear weapons. In addition, Iran agreed to allow inspections in the country’s nuclear plants and military facilities.
To sign the agreement, Iranian leaders insisted that western powers should lift the arms and military equipment embargo as their forces combat regional scourges such as the Islamic State.
“#IranTalks done. We have the agreement,” Federica Mogherini, the European Union foreign policy chief, confirmed in a tweet.
“This is a historic moment,” AP quoted Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif who attended a final session alongside his counterparts from the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia in Vienna on Tuesday morning.
Though the deal is not ideal for either side, it is an important achievement for all, Minister Javad Zarif said. “Today could have been the end of hope on this issue. But now we are starting a new chapter of hope,” he concluded.
US Secretary of state John Kerry, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and the European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini met Monday with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna to bring an end to decades of mistrust, pressure, sanctions and threats. After 18 hours of intense and “often fractious negotiation“, they reached an agreement, AP reported.
The hardest critiques of the deal come from Israel, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the deal a “bad mistake of historic proportions,” adding that it would enable Iran to “continue to pursue its aggression and terror in the region.”
Through EU representative Mogherini said the agreement is “creating the condition for building trust,” the US President Obama addressed from the White House with support, but with caution. “This deal is not built on trust. It is built on verification,” Obama said.
The deal is best for China and particularly for Russia because they are the greatest weapons, and military equipment exporter to Iran. Russia can export its advanced surface-to-air missiles S-300 and other weapons to Iran, however, not within the next five years, as all sides agreed.
Iranian people are not so pleased with the agreement, because Iran already spent billions on its nuclear program, which is now halted for at least 10 years.