IRAN-NUCLEAR/BRITAIN HAMMOND Iran nuclear deal is a 'game changer' - British foreign minister

Record ID: 147209

  • Title: IRAN-NUCLEAR/BRITAIN HAMMOND Iran nuclear deal is a 'game changer' - British foreign minister
  • Date: 14th July 2015
  • Summary: VIENNA, AUSTRIA (JULY 14, 2015) (REUTERS) DELEGATES BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY, PHILIP HAMMOND, SHAKING HANDS WITH U.S. SECRETARY JOHN KERRY AND GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER FRANK-WALTER STEINMEIER (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY, PHILIP HAMMOND, SAYING: "Well first of all the removal of the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon is a game changer in terms of our ab
  • Embargoed: 29th July 2015 13:00
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  • Location: Austria
  • Country: Austria
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVABGGDKFAUU1JMU32MUS3FB14SF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Britain expects that the agreement between Tehran and foreign powers on Iran's nuclear programme will herald a step-change in Iran's relations with its neighbours and with the international community, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Tuesday (July 14).
    "The removal of the threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon is a game changer in terms of our ability to engage with Iran," Hammond told Reuters in an interview.
    "The lifting of the sanctions means that our businesses will be able to invest in Iran. Our companies will start to trade with Iran. Iranians will start to travel again and engage with the world. Those are important changes in themselves but the future brings the tantalising possibility of Iran being a more engaged, more transparent, more consistent and constructive partner in the regional relationships in the Gulf as well."
    Hammond added that both sides must work to rebuild the "huge deficit of trust" that has endured between Iran and the West in recent times.
    "What we have to do now is rebuild that trust on the basis of this agreement by Iran faithfully implementing its commitments under this agreement, opening itself up to transparent verification of those commitments and by the West doing its part as well, making good on the commitments that it has made so that we can have a gradual normalisation of our relationships."
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the deal as a "historic mistake".
    Addressing Netanyahu's opposition to the deal, Hammond said that the West had to engage with Iran due to its important regional role.
    "Iran is an important country in the region and we can't change that, that's a fact. We have to engage with Iran and we want to see Iran playing a constructive - rather than a destructive - role in the region." he said.
    "But we do recognise the concerns of our regional partners and that's why we've negotiated very hard to keep in place the arms embargo and the missile technology controls for a period of years to give those countries reassurance as we work building the trust that is so patently lacking at the moment after 35 years of stand-off."
    Iran and six major world powers reached a deal earlier under which sanctions imposed on Iran will be lifted in return for Iran agreeing long-term curbs on its nuclear programme. The West has suspected the programme was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb.
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