The deal, announced Sunday, envisages lifting some of the
sanctions that have been crippling the country's economy, and
put in place over fears that Tehran is using its nuclear program
to build atomic arms. Iran denies it wants such weapons.
"A
Europe-wide decision is necessary" to ease EU sanctions on Iran,
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Europe 1 radio.
"That's expected in several weeks, for a partial lifting that is
targeted, reversible."
The United States and U.N. have separate sanctions.
The agreement reached on Sunday will allow Iran to keep the
central elements of its uranium program while stopping its
enrichment at a level lower than what is needed for nuclear
arms. In addition to a six-month window for Iran to allow more
U.N. access to nuclear sites, sanctions will be eased — notably
in the oil, automotive and aviation industries — though not
ended.
The agreement is a first step — one that Israel has condemned
as a "historic" mistake that effectively accepts Iran as a
threshold nuclear weapons state. Israel has found common cause
with Saudi Arabia, which shares concerns about a nuclear-armed
Iran and Tehran's growing regional influence.
On his return to Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed
Javad Zarif told state television that the country was prepared
for quick follow-up negotiations to keep the deal on track.
"We are ready to begin the final stage of nuclear agreement
from tomorrow," said Zarif, who was greeted by hundreds of
cheering students late Sunday.
There has been no noticeable opposition to the deal in Tehran
beyond a handful of requests for clarification from lawmakers,
in contrast to the United States where many members of Congress
said they were skeptical that Iran would stick to the agreement.
Iran insists that trying to block enrichment was a dead end.
For Iran's leaders, self-sufficiency over the full scope of its
nuclear efforts — from uranium mines to the centrifuges used in
enrichment — is a source of national pride and a pillar of its
self-proclaimed status as a technological beacon for the Islamic
world.
