11/25/2013, 00.00
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Tehran celebrates Geneva Accord. Israel terms it "a historic mistake "

Thousands of people welcome the Iranian delegation with flowers and signs. Foreign Minister Zarif, "ambassador of peace." Under agreement Tehran will freeze all uranium enrichment and development of nuclear sites , accept all UN inspections. In return, sanctions are eased to recover 7 billion dollars for the benefit of weakened Iranian economy . For Netanyahu , "the world has become a more dangerous place”. Price of oil drops.

Tehran ( AsiaNews / Agencies) - Thousands of people, especially young people, have welcomed the Iranian negotiators return from Geneva having secured an agreement valid for six months , which loosens sanctions against Iran in exchange for a freezing of uranium enrichment and a UN greater control of the nuclear sites .

For many world leaders the agreement is a first step toward detente, for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu it is "a historic mistake".

Announced yesterday morning in Geneva , the agreement was signed by the U.S., Russia , China, France , Britain, Germany and Iran after five days of dialogue and at least 10 years of stalemate . Under the agreement Iran will stop enriching uranium beyond 5 %, greater access - even daily - for UN inspectors to nuclear sites at Natanz and Fordow , a halt to the development of the Arak heavy water plant, where it is feared Tehran wants to produce plutonium.

In return, Tehran has earned a six month stop on new sanctions and an easing of the sanctions already in place, which will allow it to recover 7 billion dollars in oil revenues and trade in goods such as spare parts, gold, precious metals . In addition, the agreement will allow the payment of school fees of Iranian students abroad for a value of 400 million dollars.

The Iranians hope that the lifting of sanctions will help the Iranian economy that has been greatly weakened, especially with the latest block on banking that stopped all proceeds from oil sales from being deposited in the country.

This explains the jubilation at the airport in Tehran, with flowers, signs, photos of President Hassan Rouhani , who succeeded Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , and the cry of " ambassador of peace " addressed to Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif , on his return from Geneva.

The agreement was welcomed even by Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and China but may be canceled if Iran fails to respect any of the conditions . If it holds for these six months, it may lead to a stable agreement .

Meanwhile , thanks to these first steps , the price of oil on the world market began to decline by about 2% per barrel.

President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry expressed appreciation for the agreement "it will help prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons." But the U.S. reaction has disappointed its traditional allies , Saudi Arabia and Israel , particularly after revelations that the U.S. and Iran have had secret meetings for months, of which its Allies knew nothing .

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu , who has never hidden the plans for air strikes against Iranian nuclear bases , commented on the agreement , stating that " what has been achieved in Geneva is not [ something ] historic , it is a historic mistake. The world has become a more dangerous place . "

There is a different tenor in Kerry's comments: "There are those who say that this agreement is imperfect. Well, they also have a certain responsibility, and that is to tell people what the best alternative is".

In fact, without this agreement , Iran would have hadgreater freedom to pursue its nuclear ambitions with fewer inspections, fuelling regional and global tension .

 

Here you can find the complete text of the agreement.

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