On 14 July 2015, Tehran and the P5+1 came to a historic agreement ("Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action") to end economic sanctions after demonstrating a peaceful nuclear research project that would meet the International Atomic Energy Agency standards.
(meta data) TITLE: Iran, World Powers Strike Historic Nuclear Deal | Al Jazeera America 1,299 captures 15 Jul 2015 - 01 Apr 2022 About this capture COLLECTED BY Organization: Alexa Crawls Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. Collection: Alexa Crawls Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/web/20150715175516/http://america.aljazeera.com:80/articles/2015/7/14/iran-world-powers-strike-historic-nuclear-deal.html #### Attention The browser or device you are using is out of date. It has known security flaws and a limited feature set. You will not see all the features of some websites. Please update your browser. Visit Al Jazeera English High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during a plenary session at the United Nations building in Vienna, Austria, July 14, 2015 after Iran and six major world powers reached a nuclear deal on Tuesday. Leonhard Foeger / Reuters Leonhard Foeger / Reuters High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif during a plenary session at the United Nations building in Vienna, Austria, July 14, 2015 after Iran and six major world powers reached a nuclear deal on Tuesday. Leonhard Foeger / Reuters # Iran, world powers strike historic nuclear deal ## Landmark agreement the product of almost two years of negotiations to address dispute between Tehran and the West July 14, 2015 5:30AM ET Updated 8:15AM ET Tom Kutsch Iran and six world powers announced a historic deal Tuesday morning that places limits on Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for relief from international sanctions, a development that represents the most significant diplomatic milestone in a dispute that has lasted for more than a decade and could significantly alter geopolitics in the Middle East. The fraught last stretch to finalize the agreement — which took more than two weeks of almost constant negotiations in Vienna — was the result of months of tough shuttle diplomacy after a provisional agreement was reached on April 2. A number of major hurdles remained after that framework deal, including the timing of and mechanisms for enacting sanctions relief, the caps to be placed on Iran's future nuclear activities, an inspection regime to monitor compliance of the deal, and a thorny 11-hour kerfuffle surrounding the lifting of an international embargo on selling conventional arms to Iran. But after weeks of intense negotiations extending beyond an original, self-imposed June 30 deadline, those remaining difficulties — along with a series of technical annexes to the agreement concerning complex scientific and logistical issues — were overcome in a final agreement document that came in at more than 100 pages. The accord will keep Iran from producing enough material for a nuclear weapon for at least 10 years and impose new provisions for inspections of Iranian facilities, including military sites. And it marks a major shift since 2002, when the international community first discovered that Iran had covertly built nuclear facilities at Natanz and Arak. That same year, George W. Bush, in an infamous State of the Union address, labeled Iran a member of so-called "axis of evil." Speaking at the White House on Tuesday morning, President Barack Obama said the deal had "achieved something that decades of animosity have not." "This deal is in line with a tradition of American leadership," he said. "This deal is not built on trust. It is built on verification." He added, "No deal means a greater chance of more war in the Middle East." United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was hopeful that the deal could help stabilize the Middle East. "I hope — and indeed believe — that this agreement will lead to greater mutual understanding and cooperation on the many serious security challenges in the Middle East," Ban said in a statement. "As such it could serve as a vital contribution to peace and stability both in the region and beyond." "This is a historic moment," Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said as he attended a final session alongside his international counterparts in Vienna on Tuesday morning. "We are reaching an agreement that is not perfect for anybody, but it is what we could accomplish, and it is an important achievement for all of us. Today could have been the end of hope on this issue. But now we are starting a new chapter of hope." The formal announcement of the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was made after the meeting. Diplomats said Iran agreed to the continuation of a U.N. arms embargo on the country for up to five more years, though it could end earlier if the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) definitively clears Iran of any current work on nuclear weapons. A similar condition was put on U.N. restrictions on the transfer of ballistic missile technology to Tehran, which could last for up to eight more years. Another significant compromise in the agreement concerns access to Iranian military sites. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei had previously ruled out inspections at the sites by U.N. nuclear inspectors, but Tuesday's agreement provides stipulation for inspectors to press for military locations as well, though the access is not guaranteed and the timing could be delayed. Federica Mogherini, the European Union foreign policy chief, called the plan "a sign of hope for the entire world." Hassan Rouhani, the reformist president of Iran, tweeted, "#IranDeal shows constructive engagement works. With this unnecessary crisis resolved, new horizons emerge with a focus on shared challenges." Tuesday's deal could prove to be one of the most consequential international diplomatic agreements in a generation, and marks a defining international achievement for President Barack Obama in a region where a multitude of political crisis and violent conflicts have stymied his policy goals. While the agreement reached on Tuesday was concluded under the multilateral auspices of the P5+1, representing the permanent five members of the United Nations Security Council — United States, Russia, China, France, Britain — plus Germany, the ability to reach an agreement was largely a function of a diplomatic opening between Washington and Tehran that began in earnest in 2013, after the election of Rouhani in June of that year. Rouhani was elected in part on a platform of renewed engagement with the West as means of overcoming Tehran's international pariah status and trying to end a crippling international sanctions regime imposed on the nation. Khamenei backed Rouhani's efforts to restart negotiations with the West that had largely proved ineffective during the president's predecessor, the hawkish Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. For its part, the Obama administration and its P5+1 partners seemed eager to again come to the table after nearly a decade of sanctions on Iran not only failed to curb Tehran's enrichment activities but saw the program grow markedly larger since the first United Nations Security sanctions were imposed in 2006. The new diplomatic opening lead to the signing of a Joint Plan of Action (JPOA) between Iran and the P5+1 in November 2013 in Geneva. The interim agreement froze Iranian nuclear enrichment in exchange for modest sanctions relief, after which the parties set out to conclude a long-term agreement which would target the removal of all sanctions for across the board limits to Iran's nuclear activities. Under the terms of the JPOA, the time period by which a final agreement was to be concluded was extended twice, leading to the breakthrough in the Swiss city of Lausanne on April 2015, whereby Iran and the world powers outlined a provisional framework that would guide the final stretch to codify a final agreement. Since then, negotiators have worked out a number of technical details pertaining to the implementation of a deal agreed to by six nations and involving multiple international organizations, all while remaining cognizant of political realities threatening to derail an effective agreement. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), of which Iran has long been a signatory, allows nations to pursue civilian nuclear power programs, but the U.S. and members of the P5+1 have long feared that Tehran could use infrastructure permitted under the NPT to create fissile material to build nuclear weapons should it break out of that treaty. For its part, Iran has always denied that it seeks nuclear weapons and that its program was for civilian nuclear energy purposes. Because of the covert nature of Iran's nuclear development, Western powers have long wanted Iran to accept restrictions beyond those required by the NPT, in order to strengthen safeguards against any "breakout" toward weaponization, but Iran has variously seen such efforts as an affront to its dignity and national rights. Tuesday's agreement managed to, for the first time in over a decade of on-and-off negotiations, allay those dueling concerns and pave the way for what hopes to be a long-term accord. But in addition to the difficulties between the parties themselves in concluding the agreement over the last year, diplomatic efforts to finalize a deal have not been without vociferous critics, including hardliners in both the U.S. and Iran, as well as among regional U.S. allies in the Middle East, including Israel and Saudi Arabia. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been a forceful critic of engagement with Iran and led a long and public campaign against a deal, capped off with an address to the U.S. Congress in March warning of its dangers. On Tuesday, he called the nuclear deal a "bad mistake of historic proportions." Saudi Arabia and its regional allies have levied less overt public criticisms, but the united regional bloc against Iran reached its apex in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, and Gulf Arab fears about Iran's intentions in the region rose in parallel with the resumption of the diplomatic process with Iran in 2013 and took on increasing urgency as a deal's likelihood grew. Despite Tuesday's announcement, the deal's implementation still faces at least one sizable hurdle in the immediate future — the U.S. Congress. Lawmakers skeptical of the emerging contours of an Iran deal voted in May to tie any final agreement to a subsequent Congressional review, a bill that Obama reluctantly signed after it seemed as if there were enough votes to overcome a presidential veto. Under that legislation, Congress now has 60 days to review the deal before Obama can lift U.S. sanctions on Iran. But even if Congress were to vote against the deal, Obama promised on Tuesday that he would exercise his veto. Any effort for a Congressional override would require 67 votes in the Senate, a number that would be difficult to muster. With additional reporting by The Associated Press ### Related News US-Iran Diplomacy, United Nations Iran nuclear deal unlikely to ease East-West tension at United Nations After nuclear deal, Israel and Saudi Arabia brace for resurgent Iran Iran's elites likely to benefit most from sanctions relief Key points of the Iran nuclear deal #### Find Al Jazeera America on your TV #### Get email updates from Al Jazeera America Sign up for our weekly newsletter Please enter a valid email address! #### Timeline: Reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran Diplomatic efforts to stem Iran's potential development of a nuclear weapon took more than 10 years #### Explainer: Understanding Iran's nuclear program Explainer: Tehran's nuclear work prompted international concern but not alarm #### Opinion: Nuclear deal could unleash Iran's economy After decades of crippling sanctions, a reform-minded government is ready for growth #### Iran diplomacy challenges Obama to reassure Gulf allies Analysis: Camp David summit is designed to assuage GCC fears of US support despite fears of an Iranian threat #### US economic sanctions are losing effectiveness Analysis: As the global balance of power changes, sanctions may come with unintended consequences ### Related US-Iran Diplomacy, United Nations ### Editor's Picks Iran's elites likely to benefit most from sanctions relief Iran nuclear deal shifts tectonic plates in the Middle East Greek parliament to vote on bailout package Revealed: USAID funded group supporting Haitian president in 2010 American Muslims should welcome same-sex marriage ruling Most Shared Most Viewed #### Get email updates from Al Jazeera America Sign up for our weekly newsletter Please enter a valid email address! ## ### Error Sorry, your comment was not saved due to a technical problem. 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Iran
Government and politics.:Foreign relations.

 Since 2005, Iran's nuclear program has become the subject of contention with the international community, mainly the United States.  Many countries have expressed concern that Iran's nuclear program could divert civilian nuclear technology into a weapons program. This has led the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions against Iran which had further isolated Iran politically and economically from the rest of the global community. In 2009, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence said that Iran, if choosing to, would not be able to develop a nuclear weapon until 2013. 
 As of 2009, the government of Iran maintains diplomatic relations with 99 members of the United Nations, but not with the United States, and not with Israel—a state which Iran's government has derecognized since the 1979 Revolution. Among Muslim nations, Iran has an adversarial relationship with Saudi Arabia due to different political and Islamic ideologies. While Iran is a Shia Islamic Republic, Saudi Arabia is a conservative Sunni monarchy. Regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, the government of Iran has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine, after Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.