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2nd LD: Historic Iranian nuclear deal reached

Xinhua, July 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

A historic agreement has been reached over the Iranian nuclear issue between Iran and six world major countries, a diplomatic source confirmed to Xinhua on Tuesday.

The comprehensive agreement was clinched between Iran and Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States after over two weeks of bargain in the capital city of Austria.

The text of the deal is around 100 pages with five annexes, which specify key areas of the Iranian nuclear issue, including sanction relief and action plan, nuclear technology cooperation, the committee of the monitoring of the implementation, and capping of Iran's nuclear capacity, and draft of UN Security Council resolution.

The period before the comprehensive deal is started to be implemented by all sides could be around half a year, a source told Xinhua.

A U.S. state department spokesperson said representatives are meeting for the last time in the UN headquarters in Vienna before a press conference.OBAMA TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENT ON IRANIAN NUCLEAR PROGRAM AT 11:00 GMT - WHITE HOUSE

Iran's foreign minister hailed the deal as "a historic moment" but acknowledged the deal was "not perfect".

"I believe this is a historic moment. We are reaching an agreement that is not perfect for anybody but it is what we could accomplish and it is an important achievement for all of us," Mohammad Javad Zarif said at a final ministerial meeting between Iran and six world powers in Vienna.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani confirmed the deal on Twitter feed, saying it "shows constructive engagement works."

According to the White House, U.S. President Barack Obama will make an announcement on the Iranian nuclear program at 1100 GMT.

Meanwhile, Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he has signed a roadmap with Iran to clarify past and present outstanding issues, according to media reports.

"I have just signed the roadmap between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the IAEA for the clarification of past and present outstanding issues regarding Iran's nuclear program," Amano said ahead of the expected announcement of the historic deal.

Future access to Iran's Parchin military site, which the agency had repeatedly sought, is part of a separate "arrangement", Amano said.

After Rouhani took office in 2013, Tehran and the six countries intensified the nuclear talks and signed a deal in Geneva in November 2013, under which Tehran would suspend some disputed nuclear activities in exchange for limited sanction relief from Western states, buying time for diplomatic efforts.

In the past 18 months marathon negotiations, Iran and the six countries have resolved many tough issues which were once seen as an impossible task to be done, such as capping Iran's nuclear capacity, giving greater transparency of Tehran's atomic plan. Endi