- Title: IRAN-NUCLEAR/KERRY Iran deal is step away from conflict, proliferation - Kerry
- Date: 14th July 2015
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (JULY 14, 2015) (REUTERS) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, JOHN KERRY, ENTERING NEWS CONFERENCE TO APPLAUSE JOURNALISTS WATCHING (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, JOHN KERRY, SAYING: "Today, in announcing a joint comprehensive plan of action, the United States, our P5 plus one and EU partners and Iran have taken a measurable step away from the prospect
- Embargoed: 29th July 2015 13:00
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- Location: Austria
- Country: Austria
- Topics: General
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- Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday (July 14) said that a nuclear pact agreed by Iran and six major powers was a step away from conflict and proliferation.
The final round of talks in Vienna involved nearly three weeks of intense negotiation between U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
That would once have been unthinkable for two countries that have barely spoken since 1979, when Iranian revolutionaries stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.
"Today, in announcing a joint comprehensive plan of action, the United States, our P5 plus one and EU partners and Iran have taken a measurable step away from the prospect of nuclear proliferation, towards transparency and cooperation. It is a step away from the spectre of conflict and towards the possibility of peace," said Kerry at a news conference in Vienna.
"This moment has been a long time coming and we have worked very hard to get here. A resolution to this type of challenge never comes easily, not when the stakes are so high, not when the issues are so technical and not when each decision effects global and regional security so directly. The fact is that the agreement we've reached, fully implemented, will bring insight and accountability to Iran's nuclear programme, not for a small number of years but for the lifetime of that programme. This is the good deal that we have sought," he added.
Kerry said the deal would ensure Iran's "breakout time" - the time it would need to build a bomb if it decided to break off the deal - would be one year for the next decade. This has been a main goal of Western negotiators, who wanted to ensure that if a deal collapsed there would be enough time to act.
"I want to be very clear, the parameters that we announced in Lausanne not only remain intact and form the backbone of the agreement that we reached today, but through the detail they have been amplified in ways that make this agreement even stronger. That includes the sizeable reduction of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium and the number of centrifuges that it operates. It also guarantees that Iran's break out time - the time that would take for Iran to speed up it's enrichment and and produce enough fissile material for just one nuclear weapon - that time will increase to at least one year, for a period of at least ten years," said Kerry.
Kerry added that the deal contained a "snapback" mechanism, under which sanctions would be reinstated if the deal was violated.
"I want to underscore: if Iran fails in a material way to live up to these commitments, then the United States, the EU and even the U.N. sanctions that initially brought Iran to the table, can and will snap right back into place. We have a specific provision in this agreement, called "Snap Back", for the return of those sanctions in the event of non-compliance," he said.
A U.N. weapons embargo is to remain in place for five years and a ban on buying missile technology will remain for eight years.
Kerry also said that the U.S. will continue to support it's allies in the region.
"The United States will continue our efforts to address concerns about Iran's actions in the region, including by our providing key support to our partners and our allies and by making sure we are vigilant in pushing back against destabilising activities," said Kerry.
The agreement will now be debated in the U.S. Congress.
Congress has 60 days for a review, though if it rejects the deal, U.S. President Barack Obama can use his veto. It would require two-thirds of lawmakers to override such a veto, which means some of Obama's fellow Democrats would have to rebel against one of their president's signature achievements in order to kill the deal.
Republicans have lined up against it. Presidential candidate Lindsey Graham, a senator from South Carolina, called it a terrible deal that would make matters worse.
Kerry said he does not expect the U.S. Congress to definitively reject the nuclear deal.
"If congress were to veto the deal the United States of America would be in non-compliance with this agreement and contrary to all of the other countries in the world. I don't think that's going to happen. I really don't believe that people would turn their backs on an agreement that which has such extraordinary steps in it with respect to Iran's programme, as well as access and verification," he said.
Oil prices tumbled more than a dollar on Tuesday after the deal was reached. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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