Journalism of Courage
President Barack Obama heralded a framework nuclear understanding with Iran as a "historic" agreement and said: "The issues at stake here are bigger than politics. These are matters of war and peace, and they should be evaluated based on the facts." (Source: AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif called it a "win-win outcome." Later he tweeted "There is no need to spin using 'fact sheets' so early on," in a reference to a public document released by the United States listing both sides' commitments. (Source: AP)
Iran and six world powers reached a preliminary nuclear agreement on Thursday outlining commitments by both sides as they work for a comprehensive deal aiming at curbing nuclear activities Tehran could use to make weapons and providing sanctions relief for Iran. (Source: AP)
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif (right), European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini (centre) and German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier (left) at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. (Source: AP)
US and European Union nuclear-related sanctions will be suspended after the IAEA has verified that Iran is hewing to its commitments. If at any time Iran fails to fulfill its commitments, these sanctions will snap back into place.(Source: AP)
After the news of the "historic" deal was flashed, Iranian nationals went out on streets to celebrate the deal. Joyous citizens waved Iranian flags and showed signs of victory. (Source: AP)
According to the deal, centrifuges can be used to enrich uranium to levels ranging from uses in energy, medicine and science to weapons-grade used in nuclear warheads. Iran says it is enriching only for peaceful purposes and now has nearly 20,000 of the machines set up at Natanz, its main site, with almost 10,000 enriching. (Source: AP)
Centrifuges will still run at Fordo — one Western official told The Associated Press that almost 1,000 of the machines will be spinning. But they will not enrich uranium. Instead, the official said, they will produce isotopes for medical, industrial and research uses. (Source: AP)
"This framework would cut off every pathway that Iran could take to develop a nuclear weapon. This deal is not based on trust. It's based on unprecedented verification," President Obama said in his address. (Source: AP)
America's negotiating partners in Europe strongly backed the result. President Francois Hollande of France, which had pushed the US for a tougher stance, endorsed the accord while warning that "sanctions lifted can be re-established if the agreement is not applied." (Source: AP)
Preliminary agreement commits Iran to redesign its nearly-built reactor at Arak from a facility that would spew out enough plutonium to arm several nuclear weapons a year to a type that will not produce such material. It also agrees to ship all spent fuel — which contains some fissile material — for the reactor's lifetime. (Source: AP)
Iran Foreign Minister Zarif said the agreement would show "our program is exclusively peaceful, has always been and always will remain exclusively peaceful." But he also said it would not hinder the country's pursuit of atomic energy for civilian purposes. "We will continue enriching," he said. "We will continue research and development." He said the heavy water reactor would be "modernized." (Source: AP)
