Baku, Azerbaijan, August 4
By Dalga Khatinoglu -- Trend:
A senior American political expert and ex-diplomat believes that the recent nuclear pact between Iran and world powers is a win for both sides.
The Islamic Republic and the group 5+1 (the US, UK, France, Russia, China, and Germany) reached a long-awaited comprehensive deal called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on July 14.
The deal envisions ways to limit Iran's nuclear program on one side, while on the other lifts economic sanctions imposed on Tehran in the previous years.
"The agreement is good for both sides. It provides the international community assurance that, at least for the next 10-15 years, Iran's nuclear program will remain peaceful and not pursue a nuclear weapon," Steven Pifer, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center on the United States and Europe as well as the director of Brookings' Arms Control Initiative, told Trend August 4.
"It provides Iran relief from the sanctions that the international community has imposed in recent years," Pifer further stated.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said August 1 that the country reached its three goals in the nuclear deal.
"Iran's main goals in nuclear talks were protecting nuclear rights, exclusion from Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, as well as removal of sanctions".
He added what has been gained through the nuclear deal is far greater than what was expected two years ago when he set out for the nuclear talks.
Besides these mutual gains, many people and officials see another outcome from the nuclear pact, namely growing intimacy between Iran and the West, which have not been in good terms for almost four decades.
Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have previously said the deal would be a test especially to see if the United States can be trusted in other issues to be dealt with in the future.
Whether the nuclear deal opens the opportunity for a broader rapproachement between Iran and the West remains to be seen, Pifer believed.
Edited by CN