U.S. energy secretary calls Iran nuke deal "forever agreement"

The nuclear deal that world powers are negotiating with Iran is not a decade-long pact to curb Tehran's nuclear program, but a "forever agreement", U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Monday.

"It's not a fixed-year agreement; it's a forever agreement in a certain sense, with different stages," Moniz told reporters at a White House briefing.

The preliminary accord was sealed Thursday following eight days of intense negotiations between Iran's foreign minister and his counterparts from Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States plus Germany in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

The framework deal provides "unprecedented access and transparency" to Iran's nuclear program, said Moniz, a nuclear physicist who played a key role in negotiations in Switzerland.

At the briefing, White House spokesman Josh Earnest also said that tough inspections on Iran's nuclear program would be in place "in perpetuity."

Playing downing concerns that the U.S. and Iran have different narratives about the framework deal, Moniz underlined that the two sides are on the same page about the accord.

The U.S. and Iran emphasize "very strongly" that they talk about the same agreement, Moniz said, adding that what each side chooses to emphasize may be different.

"There's no doubt that right now there's a different narrative, but not in conflict with what's written down," Moniz said. "It's just selective."

Iranian officials have stressed the benefits to Iran of last week's negotiations, anticipating sanctions related to its nuclear program "will be lifted immediately if a final deal is agreed."

On Monday, Earnest made clear that the sanctions on Iranian economy would only be phased out gradually if Tehran complies with a final deal.

"It is the strong view of the administration that it would not be wise and it would not be in the interests of the international community to simply take away sanctions, take away all of the sanctions on day one," Earnest said.

U.S. President Barack Obama has defended framework nuclear deal with Iran as a "once in a lifetime opportunity" to curb the spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East.

"This is our best bet by far to make sure Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon," Obama said in an interview with Thomas L. Friedman, an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times. Endite