Tehran celebrates Geneva Accord. Israel terms it "a historic mistake "
Tehran ( AsiaNews
/ Agencies) - Thousands of people, especially young people, have welcomed the
Iranian negotiators return from Geneva having secured an agreement valid for
six months , which loosens sanctions against Iran in exchange for a freezing of
uranium
enrichment and a UN greater control of the nuclear sites .
For
many world leaders the agreement is a first step toward detente, for Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu it is "a historic mistake".
Announced
yesterday morning in Geneva , the agreement was signed by the U.S., Russia ,
China, France , Britain, Germany and Iran after five days of dialogue and at
least 10 years of stalemate . Under
the agreement Iran will stop enriching uranium beyond 5 %, greater access -
even daily - for UN inspectors to nuclear sites at Natanz and Fordow , a halt
to the development
of the Arak heavy water plant, where it is feared Tehran wants to produce
plutonium.
In
return, Tehran has earned a six month stop on new sanctions and an easing of
the sanctions already in place, which will allow it to recover 7 billion dollars
in oil revenues and trade in goods such as spare parts, gold, precious metals .
In
addition, the agreement will allow the payment of school fees of Iranian
students abroad for a value of 400 million dollars.
The
Iranians hope that the lifting of sanctions will help the Iranian economy that
has been greatly weakened, especially with the latest block on banking that
stopped all proceeds from oil sales from being deposited in the country.
This
explains the jubilation at the airport in Tehran, with flowers, signs, photos
of President Hassan Rouhani , who succeeded Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , and the cry
of " ambassador of peace " addressed to Foreign Minister Mohammed
Javad Zarif , on his return from Geneva.
The
agreement was welcomed even by Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and China but may
be canceled if Iran fails to respect any of the conditions . If
it holds for these six months, it may lead to a stable agreement .
Meanwhile
, thanks to these first steps , the price of oil on the world market began to
decline by about 2% per barrel.
President
Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry expressed appreciation for the
agreement "it will help prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons." But
the U.S. reaction has disappointed its traditional allies , Saudi Arabia and
Israel , particularly after revelations that the U.S. and Iran have had secret
meetings for months, of which its Allies knew nothing .
Israeli
Prime Minister Netanyahu , who has never hidden the plans for air strikes
against Iranian nuclear bases , commented on the agreement , stating that
" what has been achieved in Geneva is not [ something ] historic , it is a
historic mistake. The world has become a more
dangerous place . "
There
is a different tenor in Kerry's comments: "There are those who say that
this agreement is imperfect. Well, they also have a certain responsibility, and
that is to tell people what the best alternative is".
In
fact, without this agreement , Iran would have hadgreater freedom to pursue its
nuclear ambitions with fewer inspections, fuelling regional and global tension .
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