US President Barack Obama said Monday an interim agreement between world powers and Iran provides the “time and space” for the sides to reach a broader deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“It’s going to be difficult, it’s going to be challenging, but ultimately this is how diplomacy should work,” Obama said after details of a short-term agreement were ironed out over the weekend.
The agreement between six world powers and Iran will come into effect January 20, when Tehran is to start rolling back parts of its nuclear programme, it was announced on Sunday.
The interim agreement is for a period of six months, during which time a wider-ranging deal will be sought. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said those talks could begin in two to three weeks with the location yet to be decided.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represented the six world powers in negotiations with Iran, said late Monday in Kuwait she looked forward very much to continuing the talks with Iran.
She plans to visit the country in the next two weeks at the invitation of Tehran.
“It is extremely important that political agreement now translates into practical things that need to be done,” she said. The International Atomic Energy Agency will be responsible for monitoring and is comfortable with the mandate and will do their work, she said.
Meanwhile, oil revenue money that had been frozen under international embargoes was set to start flowing again to Iran from February 1 amid a deal to cap its nuclear programme, a news report said.
Tehran would receive a first payment of $550 million of the money, the Washington Post reported. A total of >$4.2 billion was to be handed over in six monthly payments , US broadcaster Fox News reported, citing a senior US administration official.
Obama called on Congress to allow the diplomatic process to play out and not to implement further sanctions on Iran as lawmakers have threatened to do.
“What we want to do is give diplomacy a chance, and give peace a chance,” he said following talks at the White House with Spain’s Mariano Rajoy.
In Brussels, the European Union promised it would fulfil its promise to partially lift sanctions on Iran as part the deal, a spokeswoman said Monday.
“When it comes to the sanctions, I can confirm that the EU will stick to its commitments and take all the necessary steps in the direction, so that what was agreed will also be fulfilled,” Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for Ashton, said.
Kocijancic told journalists in Brussels that she could not give any indications on the calendar for talks with Iran on a wider-ranging agreement.