- Title: IRAN-NUCLEAR/CHINA FM China's FM says it was 'last chance' for Iran nuclear deal
- Date: 14th July 2015
- Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (JULY 14, 2015) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** MEDIA REPRESENTATIVES (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER, WANG YI, SAYING: "Issues such as the timetable of lifting the sanctions, and also, for example, the time frame it takes to fully implement the comprehensive deal, whether sanctions will resume if there are violations, an
- Embargoed: 29th July 2015 13:00
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- Location: Austria
- Country: Austria
- Topics: General
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- Story Text: Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday (July 14) that major powers reached a deal over Iran's nuclear programme after realising Monday night (July 13) was their last chance to do.
Iran and six major world powers reached a landmark nuclear deal on Tuesday, capping more than a decade of negotiations.
The foreign ministers of Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States met for about an hour just after midnight as they struggled to complete the agreement, which has been under negotiation for more than 20 months.
"Issues such as the timetable of lifting the sanctions, and also, for example, the time frame it takes to fully implement the comprehensive deal, whether sanctions will resume if there are violations, and how to resume the sanctions, these were all the key issues left to be resolved. To solve these issues, China has been calling for a 'package solution', mutual communication, calling on all parties to move towards each other, and in the end make a political decision. We are happy to see that this decision has finally been made by now. A deal has been reached after 13 years of negotiations. We are pleased to see that," Wang told reporters in Vienna where the talks have been taking place.
"Actually, everybody's bottom line was (to go as far as) last night, I heard many journalists had decided to go home if there were still no deal today. In fact, negotiation has reached its limits, last night was really crucial. Fortunately, all parties, especially the main players, the United States and Iran, had realised that last night was the last chance. With the help of all parties, the remaining issues were resolved, which led to today's result that everyone is happy with," he added.
Under the agreement, sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union and United Nations would be lifted in return for Iran agreeing long-term curbs on a nuclear programme that the West has suspected was aimed at creating an atomic bomb.
The deal marks a watershed in Tehran's relations with Western nations, which for many years have suspected that Iran has used its civil nuclear programme as a cover to develop a nuclear weapons capability. Iran has always denied the allegations. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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