Reuters is reporting that an Iranian diplomat has confirmed to the news agency that a deal has been reached.
And according to Associated Press, a senior western diplomat also says an agreement has been reached.
We are still waiting for official confirmation of this, but it is looking increasingly certain that the announcement in the next few hours will see the unveiling of an agreement on Iran’s nuclear transparency and the lifting of sanctions against Tehran.
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Confirmed: a deal has been agreed
Julian Borger in Vienna confirms that an agreement has been secured:
A comprehensive deal on Iran’s nuclear programme has been done, diplomats in Vienna said, bringing to an end a 12-year standoff that had threatened to trigger a new war in the Middle East.
We will have more details as they emerge.
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Details are emerging of possible details of the agreement – I should stress again that we have not yet seen the deal officially.
But the Guardian’s Julian Borger, who is in Vienna and has been following the years of twists and turns of the negotiations, sends this insight:
I understand the agreement involves arrangements for IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) inspections of suspect sites, including military sites, but it will be ‘managed access’, rather than the unfettered access reported by Reuters.
Managed access is envisaged under an IAEA additional protocol inspection regime. If the inspectors have reason to believe there is undeclared nuclear activity at a site, it would present its reasons for wanting to visit it.
Some form of committee made up of representatives of a range of IAEA member states will adjudicate access. It would not be access ‘anywhere, any time’.
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On timings, we now hear that EU officials have clarified that the formal announcement will be made at noon (Vienna time: that’s 10am GMT/11am BST/6am EDT/8pm AEST) at the press conference at the Austrian centre, and not at the plenary at the UN 90 minutes earlier.