UN chief, China, Russia laud Iran nuclear deal

International leaders praised the nuclear deal reached between Iran and six world powers Sunday morning as a move that would help calm the region.

Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said in a statement that the agreement would keep the Middle East stable.

“This agreement will help to uphold the international nuclear nonproliferation system, (and) safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East,” he said.

At the UN, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the interim agreement.

“The Secretary-General calls on all members of the international community to support this process which, if allowed to succeed, is likely to be to the long-term benefit of all parties,” his spokesperson said in a statement.

Russia said the deal recognized Iran’s right to enrich uranium.

“This deal means that we agree with the need to recognize Iran’s right for peaceful nuclear energy, including the right for enrichment, with an understanding that those questions about the [Iranian nuclear program] that still remain, and the program itself, will be placed under the strictest IAEA control,” Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov said, according to Russia Times.

China and Russia are both members of the P5+1, the five permanent security council members and Germany who have been in talks with Iran in an attempt to broker a nuclear agreement.

Representatives of Iran and Western powers reached an interim deal on Iran’s rogue nuclear program early Sunday morning, after a weekend of intensive talks in Geneva.

In a statement Sunday morning, US President Barack Obama said the deal was an “important first step” that opened up a “real opportunity to achieve a peaceful settlement” and address the world’s concerns over the program.

He said the deal included “substantial limitations” on Iran and would cut off Tehran’s most likely path to a bomb. ”It won’t be easy,” Obama said, “and huge challenges remain ahead, but through strong and principled diplomacy, the United States will do our part” to deny Iran nuclear weapons.

Obama nevertheless acknowledged that it may be difficult for some of Washington’s allies in the Middle East to trust Iran’s intentions, saying Israel and the Gulf countries “have good reasons to be skeptical.”

A senior Obama administration official said that the West had not conceded an Iranian “right” to produce nuclear fuel through uranium enrichment, a key sticking point in previous negotiations.

The official said the deal included an agreement that Iran would halt progress on its nuclear program, including work on a plutonium reactor at the Arak facility. The deal also calls on Iran to neutralize its 20-percent-enriched uranium stockpiles. Tehran has also agreed to intrusive inspections under the terms of the deal.

AP and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.