‘Historic’ agreement reached on limiting Iranian nuclear activity

Following 20 months of negotiation, Iran has agreed a long-term nuclear deal to limit its nuclear activities in return for the lifting of sanctions.

The deal - struck with the P5+1 group (the US, UK, France, China and Russia plus Germany) - has promised that Iran’s nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only.

There had been continuous stiff resistance to a deal from conservatives both in Iran and the US. The US Congress has 60 days in which to consider the deal, though President Obama said he would veto any attempt to block it.

In a televised address, Obama insisted the deal would make the world ‘safer and more secure’, and provided for a rigorous verification regime. He said: ”This deal is not built on trust - it is built on verification.”

The deal will oblige Iran to remove two-thirds of installed centrifuges and store them under international supervision and to get rid of 98 per cent of its enriched uranium. Iran will also have to accept that sanctions would be rapidly restored if the deal was violated and permanently give the International Atomic Energy Agency access ‘where necessary’ and ‘when necessary’.

While hailing the agreement as a ‘significant step forward’, Obama stressed that the sanction relief would be gradual with an arms embargo remaining in place for five years and an embargo on missiles for eight years.