The west is likely to start easing crippling sanctions on Iran in the new year, following the breakthrough agreement in Geneva to freeze and reverse Iran’s nuclear programme.
“The focus for the coming weeks has to be swift implementation,” said a senior western diplomat.
The accord reached in Geneva on Sunday morning represents a first, six-month phase of a process in which Iran will accept limits on its nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief.
According to US calculations, the interim deal will be worth up to $7bn (£4.3bn) to Iran, made up of $4.2bn in Iranian oil sales revenue unblocked from frozen accounts; $1bn repatriated from petrochemical sales; a possible $500m in extra production and sales by the Iranian car industry due to the lifting of the ban on imports of car parts; and the unblocking of $400m in Iranian frozen assets to help pay the costs of Iranian students abroad. A suspension on a ban on Iran’s trade in gold and other precious metals is expected to bring in smaller amounts.
France’s foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said EU ministers would discuss the lifting of partial sanctions as early as December and that a “Europe-wide” decision was necessary for easing some of the punitive measures that the EU has imposed on Tehran. “[That meeting] is expected in several weeks, for a partial lifting that is limited, targeted and reversible,” he told radio station Europe 1.
The Geneva deal, struck between Iran and a six-nation group comprising the US, three European states, Russia and China, mediated by the EU’s foreign policy chief, Lady Ashton, is expected to trigger a flurry of diplomacy. This will include an EU initiative to try to reassure Iran’s regional rivals, enemies and sceptics, such as Israel and Saudi Arabia, of the value of an agreement that, for the first time in a decade, has Tehran agreeing to roll back its nuclear projects under intrusive daily inspection by United Nations monitors, Guardian informs.
