Iran, Six World Powers Clinch Breakthrough Nuclear Deal

Aimed at ending a dangerous standoff, the agreement between Iran and the United States, France,Germany, Britain, China and Russia was nailed down after more than four days of tortuous negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva.Halting Iran's most sensitive nuclear work, it was designed as a package of confidence-building steps to ease decades of tensions and confrontation and banish the spectre of a Middle East war over Tehran's nuclear aspirations.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who has been coordinating talks with Iran on behalf of the major powers, said it created time and space for talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive solution to the dispute.

"After intensive negotiations we've reached agreement today on a joint plan of action which sets out an approach to us reaching a long-term, comprehensive solution. We agreed that the process leading to this comprehensive solution will include a first step on initial, reciprocal measures to be taken by both sides for a duration of six months. We also share a strong commitment to negotiate a final, comprehensive solution," said Ashton.

"The adoption of a joint plan of action was possible thanks to a sense of mutual respect and a determination to find a way forward which is beneficial to all of us. The implementation of this first step creates the time and the environment needed for a comprehensive solution which remains the shared goal and on which talks will begin soon," she added.

After Ashton read out a statement on the deal to the cameras at the United Nations in Geneva, ministers appeared elated. Ashton and Kerry hugged each other, and Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shook hands. Minutes later, as the Iranian delegation posed for photos, Zarif and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius approached each other and embraced.

France's Fabius said the agreement was an "important step" forward towards peace and security.

"After years of blockage, the Geneva accord that we have just reached on Iran's nuclear programme is an important step forward for peace and security. This agreement confirms Iran's right to nuclear energy for civilian purposes but it totally excludes the possibility of access to nuclear energy for military purposes," he said.

"The mechanism lays down tight controls and one must of course be vigilant about its implementation. The discussions were long and difficult and you saw that France played its role to the fullest because we wanted a solid agreement. In summary, and this is what is essential, Genevais a first important step and even a major one," Fabius added.

Diplomacy with Iran was stepped up after the landslide election of Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, as Iranian president in June, replacing bellicose nationalist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Kerry and the foreign ministers of the five other world powers joined the negotiations with Iran early on Saturday (November 23) as the two sides appeared to be edging closer to a long-sought preliminary agreement.

The Western powers' goal was to cap Iran's nuclear energy programme, which has a history of evading U.N. inspections and investigations, to remove any risk of Tehran covertly refining uranium to a level suitable for bombs.

Tehran, whose oil-dependent economy has been severely damaged by tightening Western sanctions over the past few years, denies it would ever "weaponise" enrichment.

The OPEC producer rejects suspicions it is trying covertly to develop the means to produce nuclear weapons, saying it is stockpiling nuclear material for future atomic power plants.