Iran Agrees To Curb Nuclear Activity At Geneva Talks

Iran agrees to curb nuclear activity at Geneva talks Comments (398)  Jeremy Bowen: This buys them six months to negotiate a permanent deal Continue reading the main story  Rouhani's Iran      Iran nuclear deal Live     Key deal but limited     First 100 days     Views on Rouhani  Iran has agreed to curb some of its nuclear activities in return for about $7bn (£4.3bn) in sanctions relief, after days of intense talks in Geneva.  US President Barack Obama welcomed the deal, saying it included "substantial limitations which will help prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon".  Iran agreed to give better access to inspectors and halt some of its work on uranium enrichment.  President Rouhani said the interim deal recognised Iran's nuclear "rights".  But he repeated, in a nationwide broadcast, that his country would never seek a nuclear weapon.  Tehran denies repeated claims by Western governments that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons. It insists it must be allowed to enrich uranium to use in power stations.  The deal will last for six months allowing time for the negotiation of a more permanent agreement. Continue reading the main story  Analysis image of Jonathan Marcus Jonathan Marcus BBC diplomatic correspondent  Both the Americans and the Iranians appear to have come away from this interim deal smiling.  Both can say that they have received concessions but their practical effect will be limited. The real success here is that the ground has been prepared for further substantive talks.  The relief from sanctions has been targeted and specific. The US stresses that existing sanctions will continue to be enforced.  Iran is to a large extent freezing any further progress in its nuclear activities but many of its centrifuge cascades have not been operational; it has actually been limiting its enrichment work for whatever reason for some time; and the Arak facility is still some way from being operational.  So Iran is not giving up a lot, nor is it gaining a lot.      Iran deal limited but important  The deal comes just months after Iran elected Mr Rouhani - regarded as a relative moderate - as its new president, in place of the hard-line Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  It has also been backed by Iran's Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.  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.  Key points of the deal have been released by the White House:      Iran will stop enriching uranium beyond 5%, the level at which it can be used for weapons research, and reduce its stockpile of uranium enriched beyond this point     Iran will give greater access to inspectors including daily access at Natanz and Fordo nuclear sites     There will be no further development of the Arak plant which it is believed could produce plutonium     In return, there will be no new nuclear-related sanctions for six months if Iran sticks by the accord     Iran will also receive sanctions relief worth about $7bn (£4.3bn) on sectors including precious metals  US Secretary of State John Kerry said the agreement would make the region safer for its allies, including Israel.  Benjamin Netanyahu: "It's a historic mistake"  But the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet it was a "historic mistake" and that his country reserved the right to defend itself.  "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," he said.  At a later news conference, Mr Netanyahu said Israel would not be bound by the agreement.  "We cannot and will not allow a regime that calls for the destruction of Israel to obtain the means to achieve this goal.  "Israel has many friends and allies, but when they're mistaken, its my duty to speak out." Secret talks  The Israeli comments came as it was revealed that the US and Iran had held a series of face-to-face talks in recent months that paved the way for the agreement but were kept secret even from their allies.  At least five meetings, involving Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, Vice President Joe Biden's senior foreign policy adviser Jake Sullivan and Iranian officials, began in March at undisclosed locations, including the Gulf state of Oman, according to the Associated Press news agency.  The final four meetings were held after President Rouhani was elected in August. The talks were personally authorised by President Obama, AP reports quoting senior US administration officials.  The officials told AP they were "convinced that the outreach had the blessing of Ayatollah Khamenei".  Oman's Sultan Qaboos played a key role after offering himself as a mediator, according to AP.  President Hassan Rouhani said the deal recognised Iran's nuclear "rights" 'Enrichment continues'  Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the agreement 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.  The US denied any such right had been conceded, while UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the agreement was "good news for the whole world".  Obama: "Agreed to provide Iran with modest relief"  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 James Reynolds in Geneva.  Negotiators had been working since Wednesday to reach an agreement that was acceptable to both sides.  It became clear that a breakthrough had been made in Geneva shortly before 03:00 local time (02:00 GMT) on Sunday.  In further reaction, President Vladimir Putin of Russia said he looked forward to a more comprehensive agreement.  "What is done is a breakthrough but it is merely the first step on a long and difficult road," he said in a statement.  "In conjunction with our partners we are ready to continue the patient search for a mutually-acceptable, broader and comprehensive solution that upholds Iran's inalienable right to develop a peaceful nuclear programme."