VIENNA: Here are the latest developments involving negotiations between Iran and world powers in Vienna over the Islamic Republic’s contested nuclear program (all times local):
1 p.m.
Speaking to journalists in Farsi, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif largely repeated the same remarks as European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.
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12:55 p.m.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are addressing journalists in Vienna.
Mogherini said Tuesday: “We are creating the conditions for building trust.”
She added: “No one ever thought it would be easy. … Despite twists and turns in the talks, hope and determination enabled us to overcome all the difficult moments.”
She said the deal involves Iran “under no circumstance” obtaining or building nuclear weapons.
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12:50 p.m.
Germany’s main business lobby group is welcoming the Iranian nuclear deal, which it says could ultimately lead to a quadrupling of German exports to Iran.
The Federation of German Industries’ chairman, Ulrich Grillo, said modernizing Iran’s oil industry could offer “major market opportunities” for German machinery makers. He also pointed to the auto and chemical industries, the health sector and renewable energy as areas where German firms could do business.
Grillo says companies will need to be able to finance investments to trade with Iran and highlighted the need for quick resumption of bank transfers via the SWIFT system.
German exports to Iran totaled nearly 2.4 billion euros ($2.7 billion) last year. The industry federation says an increase to over 10 billion euros is realistic “in the medium term.”
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12:40 p.m.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says his country is pleased with the result of nuclear negotiations between world powers and Iran.
Speaking to journalists Tuesday in Vienna, Lavrov said Russia and China pushed to end an arms embargo on Iran as soon as possible. However, he said Iranians “agreed to compromise” since “the West insisted that the embargo should stay.”
In the end, Lavrov says Iran agreed to the embargo being kept in place for the next five years. However, Lavrov said Iran will be able to import arms during that period “on the condition of the notification and the verification with the U.N. Security Council.”
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12:25 p.m.
A flag-draped stage awaits nuclear negotiators speaking at a news conference over the Iran deal.
Journalists began filing into a conference hall to listen to negotiators discuss the deal later Tuesday. On the stage, the flags of China, France, Germany, the European Union, Iran, Russia, the United Kingdom and the U.S. all stood in the background. Those are all the parties involved in the talks over the Islamic Republic’s contested nuclear program.
On Twitter, European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini wrote: “hashtag IranTalks done. We have the agreement.”
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11:55 a.m.
U.S. President Barack Obama will speak about the Iranian nuclear deal from the White House early Tuesday morning.
The quest for an accord with Iran has been a centerpiece of Obama’s foreign policy. The president’s diplomatic pursuit has deeply strained his relationship with Israel and angered congressional lawmakers in the U.S.
Following his remarks, Obama is expected to launch an aggressive campaign to sell the deal to skeptics at home and abroad.
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11:10 a.m.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, speaking before the final meeting of negotiators at nuclear talks in Vienna, has praised their work.
Zarif said Tuesday: “I believe this is a historic moment. Today could have been the end of hope, but now we are starting a new chapter of hope.”
Zarif also said acknowledged the final agreement wasn’t perfect for any party, but said it helped end an “unnecessary crisis and … open new horizons.”
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11 a.m.
Nuclear negotiators in Vienna have sat down for their final meeting.
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sat next to each other as photographers snapped images. Mogherini whispered at times to Zarif, smiling.
Mogherini said: “What we have in front of us today … is the result of very hard work. … I’d like to thank all of us sitting around this table.”
She added: “It is a decision that can open the way to a new chapter in international relations. … I think this is a sign of hope for the entire world.”
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10:55 a.m.
Iran’s state-run news agency is quoting the vice chairman of the Islamic Republic’s parliament as lauding his country’s nuclear negotiators.
IRNA is reporting Mohammad Hassan Aboutorabifard thanked the members of Iran’s nuclear negotiation team for their effort to protect the country’s interests.
Aboutorabifard was quoted Tuesday as saying: “The members of the negotiating team insisted on the rights of the nation encouraged by the guidelines provided to them by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.”
The deal between Iran and the world powers will approve limitations on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
The West long has suspected Iran’s nuclear program has a military dimension, a charge Tehran denies.
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10:50 a.m.
Iranian state television is quoting Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of the country’s nuclear program, as saying that the deal with world powers respects his country’s “red lines.”
Salehi made the comments Tuesday.
He was quoted as saying: “After a roadmap was signed today with the (United Nations’ nuclear agency), all problems will be settled.”
Yukiya Amano, the head of the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency, earlier said a roadmap had been signed between his agency and Iran. It calls for his agency, with Iran’s cooperation, to make an assessment of issues relating to possible military dimensions of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program by the end of 2015.
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10:25 a.m.
Pakistan hopes news of a deal over Iran’s contested nuclear program will help it complete a gas pipeline linking it to the Islamic Republic.
Pakistan’s National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz said Tuesday he “welcomed” the deal.
Washington for years has opposed Pakistan’s bid to import natural gas from Tehran. Pakistan needs the pipeline to supply power to its weak electrical grid.
A Pakistani defense analyst, retired Gen. Talat Masood, told The Associated Press: “Because of this agreement … I think Washington will stop opposing the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project.”
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10:05 a.m.
Israel’s prime minister says a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is a “bad mistake of historic proportions.”
Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that an accord with Iran will allow it “to continue to pursue its aggression and terror in the region.”
Netanyahu has been at the forefront of efforts to block an agreement that would lift sanctions on Iran. Iranian officials repeatedly have threatened to destroy Israel in the past. Iran also backs militant groups that attack it.
The talks have been aimed at reaching a final deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. Iran long has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The West fears it could be used to build an atomic bomb.
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10 a.m.
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog says a “roadmap” has been signed between it and Iran as a final deal has been struck over the Islamic Republic’s contested nuclear program.
Yukiya Amano, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, made the comments in Vienna on Tuesday, just a short time after diplomats acknowledged a deal had been made between world powers and Iran.
Amano said Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s nuclear program, signed the roadmap. It calls for his agency, with Iran’s cooperation, to make an assessment of issues relating to possible military dimensions of the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program by the end of 2015.
Amano says: “This is a significant step forward toward clarifying outstanding issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program.”
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This item has been corrected to show that Ali Akbar Salehi is the head of Iran’s nuclear program.
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9:50 a.m.
World oil markets are reacting to news that a final deal has been struck between Iran and world powers over the Islamic Republic’s contested nuclear program.
In trading Tuesday, benchmark U.S. crude was down $1.20 in trading.
Iran is an OPEC member, but its oil production has been affected for years by sanctions over its nuclear program. Any easing of the sanctions could see Iransell more oil, which could bring down crude prices.
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9:20 a.m.
An Israeli Cabinet minister says a nuclear deal between Iran and world powers gives the Islamic Republic a “license to kill.”
Miri Regev, a former military spokeswoman who serves as Israel’s culture and sports minister, said Tuesday that the deal was “bad for the free world (and) bad for humanity.”
Israel has been at the forefront of efforts to block an accord that would lift sanctions on Iran. Iranian officials repeatedly have threatened to destroy Israel in the past. Iran also has backed militants groups that have attacked Israel.
Regev called on further lobbying against the deal reached in Vienna and said Congress could still block it.
The talks have been aimed at reaching a final deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. Iran long has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The West fears it could be used to build an atomic bomb.
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8:45 a.m.
A senior Western diplomat says a landmark Iran nuclear agreement has been reached.
The diplomat made the comments Tuesday amid nonstop negotiations between Iran and world powers in Vienna.
The diplomat says it includes a compromise between Washington and Tehran that would allow U.N. inspectors to press for visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties. Iranian state television earlier rejected such a demand.
The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity pending a formal announcement, expected after a 10:30 a.m. final meeting between all negotiators.
The talks have been aimed at reaching a final deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. Iran long has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The West fears it could be used to build an atomic bomb.
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Associated Press writers George Jahn and Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
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8:35 a.m.
A senior Western diplomat says a landmark Iran nuclear agreement has been reached Tuesday after clearing final obstacles. The diplomat says it includes a compromise between Washington and Tehran that would allow U.N. inspectors to press for visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties.
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8:15 a.m.
Officials are saying the last meeting between negotiators from Iran and world powers will be at 10:30 a.m. in Vienna. They say that will be followed by a news conference, without elaborating.
A diplomat earlier speaking to The Associated Press said a deal likely was to be announced by Tuesday afternoon in Vienna. Iranian state television has said a joint statement marking the conclusion of nuclear talks with world powers will be read around noon.
The talks are aimed at reaching a final deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. Iran long has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The West fears it could be used to build an atomic bomb.
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7:55 a.m.
Iranian state television is reporting that a joint statement marking the conclusion of nuclear talks with world powers will be read around noon in Vienna.
The TV report Tuesday said the statement will be read by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
It did not elaborate, though it called the talks Tuesday the “final steps in a 12-year marathon.”
A diplomat earlier speaking to The Associated Press said a deal likely was to be announced by Tuesday afternoon in Vienna.
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7:45 a.m.
Iranian state television is rejecting that military site inspections will be included in a final nuclear deal between the Islamic Republic and world powers.
In its report early Tuesday, state television said it was quoting a source close to Iranian nuclear negotiators as saying: “Some Western media is resorting to propaganda aimed at implying that Iran’s red lines, including inspections to military sites, has not been observed in the final” deal.
The report also said floating that idea was meant to make the deal look like a win for the West.
A senior diplomat earlier told The Associated Press that the draft final deal includes a compromise between Washington and Tehran that would allow United Nations inspectors to press for visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties.
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7:30 a.m.
A diplomat says a deal between Iran and world powers over the Islamic Republic’s contested nuclear program is likely to be announced by Tuesday afternoon in Vienna.
Another diplomat told The Associated Press that final drafting of the deal was still going on at daybreak Tuesday.
The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity as negotiations remained in flux.
The talks are aimed at reaching a final deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. Iran long has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. The West fears it could be used to build an atomic bomb.