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1st LD: UN chief hails "historic agreement" on Iran nuclear issue

Xinhua, July 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday "warmly" welcomed "the historic agreement" reached in Vienna on the Iran nuclear issue, calling it a "testament to the value of dialogue."

The secretary-general congratulated the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- plus Germany and Iran for reaching this agreement, said a statement issued by Ban's spokesman to reporters at the UN headquarters in New York City.

Ban currently is in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to attend a UN conference on financing for development.

"I know that an immense amount of work went into this, and I admire the determination and the commitment of the negotiators -- as well as the courage of the leaders who approved the deal that was so painstakingly worked out by their teams in Vienna and elsewhere," the statement said.

The new deal, reached at the end of the two-day diplomatic efforts in Vienna, culminated 20 months of negotiations to end a twelve-year crisis over Iran's nuclear program, which Western countries have regarded with suspicion. Endi