World leaders hail Iran nuclear deal

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24 November 2013

The nuclear agreement between Western powers and Iran was broadly welcomed today by politicians, former world leaders and Middle East experts.

An interim deal to restrict Iran's nuclear programme was finally reached after five days of top-level talks in Geneva, Switzerland.

The Elders - an influential group of independent leaders founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007 - said it "warmly welcomed" the agreement.

Kofi Annan, chairman of The Elders and former UN Secretary-General, said: "After years of inconclusive negotiations, this is an important step forward in restoring confidence between Iran and the international community."

"I hope it will be swiftly followed up with practical measures to put the agreement into effect."

Former US president Jimmy Carter said: "We are all aware of the risks involved.

"But I am convinced that, after 35 years of animosity and distrust, there is an historic opportunity to rebuild relations with the government and people of Iran on solid foundations of mutual respect."

Martti Ahtisaari, the former President of Finland, said: "The moment of truth has arrived. Either we go forward and build on this interim accord, or we shall inevitably go backwards. These are serious negotiations, which must be given a chance to reach fruition."

Lord Lamont, the former chancellor and chairman of the British Iranian Chamber of Commerce, said: "This is welcome news. This is the start, not the end of a process.

"Diplomacy has allowed the the West and Iran to step back from a real risk of armed conflict.

A deal with proper and hard safeguards is in the interests of everyone in the world, including the Middle East."

Shashank Joshi, an expert in the Middle East and a research fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), called the deal "a very clever piece of diplomacy".

He said: "What it does is all but freeze Iran's nuclear programme, and what that means is that even if the deal collapses, we are not worse off than when we started.

"It absolutely puts Iran further away from a nuclear bomb.

"It will now take Iran longer to get enough fuel for a bomb than it would before this deal.

"It calms things down and buys time for further talks to take place."

Mr Joshi said the deal allows each side to walk away from the negotiating table with a victory.

"The West has got nearly everything it wants: a slow, or a hold, on Iran's nuclear programme, and it gives away very little."

He said the seven billion dollars the US may be losing out on as part of the deal is a "very small sum" compared with what Iran is losing in the ongoing oil and banking sanctions.

However, Mr Joshi said Iran will still come away saying that most of its own terms have also been met, particularly that it has not completely given up its right to enrich uranium.

"What it does is buy us more time to negotiate," he said.

"Partial deals like this can be difficult to turn into final deals, but each side has made concessions."

Douglas Alexander, Labour's Shadow Foreign Secretary, said: "A nuclear armed Iran poses a threat not only to its neighbours in the Middle East, but also to the rest of the world.

"So a negotiated resolution remains the priority, and today's interim deal appears to be a welcome step towards that.

"The details of the interim deal suggest that it has the potential to be the most important announcement between Iran and the West for decades.

"Crucially, the apparent agreement of the Iranian government to curb enrichment and grant greater access to inspectors show the important progress that appears to have been made.

"The strength of the agreement will be tested through its implementation, and if Iran is shown to renege on its obligations then the international community should be ready to reverse sanctions relief and maintain pressure.

"In the days ahead it will be important for the British Government to provide further details to parliament so that the interim deal can be closely scrutinised."

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