After nearly two years of negotiations, a deal has been reached on Iran’s nuclear program. The agreement is a pivotal moment in relations between Iran, which was eager to end economic sanctions, and the West, which wants to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Here’s how people around the world, from leaders to ordinary citizens, are reacting.
Iran
Iran’s motivation in the talks was economic. The country was keen to get rid of sanctions that have hurt it financially. The Iranian President tweeted the following after the agreement was reached Tuesday:
Ordinary Iranians sounded their horns in celebration:
Journalists reporting on the deal shared their excitement:
Iranian social media similarly exploded in April after the initial announcement of the nuclear deal.
Israel
Israel and Iran have a volatile past, with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei once calling for Israel to be “annihilated.” Unsurprisingly, Israeli officials heavily criticized the deal.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote: “When you are willing to make an agreement at any cost, this is the result. From the initial reports, we can already conclude that this agreement is a historic mistake for the world.”
Other Israeli politicians reacted similarly:
United States
The United States and other Western countries wanted the deal in order to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
President Barack Obama spoke about the need for diplomacy in a news conference after the agreement was reached:
Secretary of State John Kerry emphasized that the restrictions put in place through the agreement will last for years to come:
Trita Parsi, who leads the National Iranian American Council, said he felt the deal could have positive future implications for U.S. foreign relations:
The council’s research director thought the agreement was down to the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in 2013:
However, the deal still needs to go through Republican-controlled Congress, where it is expected to face strong opposition from the GOP. Republican members of Congress were quick to sound off:
And Aaron David Miller of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars brought up another issue – that of Americans being detained in Iran:
Elsewhere
In Pakistan, at least one journalist was happy to hear the news:
In Lebanon, the director of the Carnegie Middle East Center said she hoped a Syria deal would be next:
CNN’s Wilfred Chan and Nick Thompson contributed to this report.
