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 The deal, announced Sunday, envisions lifting some of the sanctions
that have been crippling the country's economy. The sanctions were
in response to fears that Tehran is using its nuclear program to
build atomic arms. Iran denies it wants such weapons.
"A Europe-wide decision is necessary" to ease EU sanctions, French
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told Europe 1 radio. "That's
expected in several weeks, for a partial lifting that is targeted,
reversible."
"It could be in December, it could be in January, it depends on how
long the legislative process takes," EU foreign affairs spokesman
Michael Mann told reporters in Brussels.
The United States and the EU have separate sanctions on Iran. Easing
European restrictions would affect numerous areas including trade in
petrochemicals, gold and other precious metals, financial transfers
to purchase food and medicine, and the ability of third countries to
use EU-based firms to insure shipments of Iranian oil again.
Mann said work on amending the EU regulations was already beginning,
but cautioned that changes depend on the Iranian government living
up to its end of the deal.
"It's important that both sides of the bargain are implementing this
agreement, so we would coordinate timing-wise also with the Iranian
side," the EU spokesman said.
Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague put the total estimated
value of sanctions relief at $7 billion over a 6-month period, but
stressed it would not all come at once.
"They do not receive 7 billion on the first day and then decide if
they want to implement their side of the agreement," Hague said,
calling the amount of sanctions relief "a very small proportion" of
the total frozen assets and value of sanctions applied to Iran.
"The way we're doing sanctions relief leaves Iran with a huge
incentive" to go for a comprehensive agreement since Tehran wants
complete sanctions relief, Hague said.
The deal reached Sunday will allow Iran to keep the central elements
of its uranium program, while stopping its enrichment at a level
lower than what is needed for nuclear arms. In addition to a
six-month window for Iran to allow more U.N. access to nuclear
sites, sanctions will be eased — notably in the oil, automotive and
aviation industries — though not ended.
The agreement is a first step — one that Israel has condemned as a
"historic mistake" that effectively accepts Iran as a threshold
nuclear weapons state. Israel has found common cause with Saudi
Arabia, which shares concerns about a nuclear-armed Iran and
Tehran's growing regional influence.
On his return to Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad
Zarif told state television that the country was prepared for quick
follow-up negotiations to keep the deal on track.
"We are ready to begin the final stage of nuclear agreement from
tomorrow," said Zarif, who was greeted by hundreds of cheering
students.
Many Iranians appeared upbeat about the deal and the possibility of
an eventual end to sanctions, such as blocks on access to
international banking networks that have crippled businesses and
made once-routine transactions — such as paying tuition for a
student abroad — a complicated process.
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In the U.S., President Barack Obama defended the agreement,
declaring that the United States "cannot close the door on
diplomacy."
"Tough talk and bluster may be the easy thing to do politically, but
it's not the right thing to do for our security," he said during an
event in San Francisco.
But hardline groups in Iran remained highly wary of any close
cooperation with Washington.
An editorial in the conservative daily Kayhan described the U.S. as
a deceitful power that could renege on its pledges even if Iran
sticks with its part of the deal.
"The U.S. was not trustworthy. The Geneva deal lasted only one
hour," it said in its front-page headline, referring to U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry's comments that there was no
recognition of Iran's "right" to enrich uranium.
Iran insists that trying to block enrichment was a dead end. For
Iran's leaders, self-sufficiency over the full scope of its nuclear
efforts — from uranium mines to the centrifuges used in enrichment —
is a source of national pride and a pillar of its self-proclaimed
status as a technological beacon for the Islamic world.
In the end, Iran agreed to cap its enrichment level at 5 percent,
far below the 90 percent threshold needed for a warhead. Iran also
pledged to "neutralize" its stockpile of 20 percent enriched uranium
— the highest level acknowledged by Tehran — by either diluting its
strength or converting it to fuel for research reactors, which
produced isotopes for medical treatments and other civilian uses.
In return, Iran got the rollback in some sanctions — a total package
the White House also estimated will re-inject $7 billion into the
Iranian economy — but the main pressures remain on Iran's oil
exports and its blacklist from international banking networks during
the first steps of the pact.
Despite Obama's assurances that no new sanctions will be levied on
Iran while the interim agreement is in effect, some U.S. lawmakers
want to push ahead with additional penalties. A new sanctions bill
has already passed the House of Representatives, and if it passes
the Senate, Obama could have to wield his veto power in order to
keep his promise to Tehran.
[Associated
Press; BRIAN MURPHY and JOHN-THOR DAHLBURG]
Murphy reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Associated Press
writers Matthew Lee in Washington, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Ali
Akbar Dareini in Tehran contributed to this report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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