World breathes ‘huge sigh of relief’ at Iran deal: Putin

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday hailed a deal reached on Iran’s nuclear drive as a “firm choice for stability and cooperation”.
“We are certain that today the world has breathed a huge sigh of relief,” Putin said in a statement published on the Kremlin’s website.
“Despite attempts to argue in favour of scenarios of force, the participants of the talks made a firm choice for stability and cooperation.”
Putin said Moscow would “do everything in its power” to ensure the agreement worked and called on all sides to fulfill their part of the bargain.
“We expect that all of the interested parties, primarily the 5+1 countries, will fully adhere to the decisions that have been reached,” Putin said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov emerged from talks in Vienna to promise Russia will be “actively participating in the practical steps for the realisations of the agreement.”
This includes taking the low-enriched uranium out of Iran and bringing it to Russia, he told journalists.
The deal “without a doubt will play an important role in ensuring non-proliferation in general” as well as “make the situation in the Middle East healthier,” he said.
Russia, like China, had argued for a quick lifting of the arms embargo on Iran in the course of the marathon talks, Lavrov said, but in the end supported Tehran’s compromise with Western countries.
“There was a compromise reached between Iran and Western colleagues whom we supported... five years, but during the five years arms deliveries to Iran would be possible if they clear a notification and verification process in the UN Security Council,” Lavrov said.
Lavrov added that the deal further boosts Russia-Iran business ties, including in the nuclear sphere.
“We have great plans to develop Iran’s nuclear energy,” Lavrov said, referring to Russia’s plans to build more power reactors in the country.
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad congratulated key ally Iran on Tuesday on reaching a nuclear deal with world powers, calling the agreement a “great victory”.
In a message to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Assad said he was “happy that the Islamic Republic of Iran has achieved a great victory by reaching an agreement”, state news agency SANA reported.
“In the name of the Syrian people, I congratulate you and the people of Iran on this historic achievement,” he added in another message addressed to President Hassan Rouhani.
Assad said the deal would be a “major turning point in the history of Iran, the region and the world.”
He added that it provided “clear recognition on the part of world powers of the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme, while preserving the national rights of your people and confirming the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
“We are confident Iran will continue, and with greater momentum, to support the peoples’ just issues and to work towards establishing peace and stability in the region and the world,” Assad said.
Syria’s foreign ministry also welcomed the deal, which it said underlined “the importance of adopting diplomacy and political solutions to resolve international disagreements.”
Tehran is a longstanding ally of Damascus and has remained so since Syria’s uprising began in March 2011.
It has bolstered Assad’s government with military and financial support, including a $1 billion credit line approved by Syria’s parliament on July 7.
It is also a key ally of Lebanon’s Hizbullah movement, which has dispatched fighters to help Assad’s forces battle the uprising.
More than 230,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government demonstrations more than four years ago.