Iran 'Seals' Nuclear Deal With World Powers

Six major powers have reached an agreement with Iran on the country's nuclear programme, an Iranian diplomat has said.

Tehran has been granted sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme, the source told Reuters.

"All the hard work has paid off and we sealed a deal. God bless our people," he said.

The deal has also been confirmed by a Western diplomat to AP.Foreign ministers of Iran and the six powers, including ministers from Britain and the US, are due to meet at 9.30am UK time in Vienna to ratify the deal which has taken months to finalise.

They are then expected to hold a press conference in the Austrian capital at which the details will be released.

:: Sources are saying that the deal includes a compromise between Washington and Tehran that will allow UN inspectors to request visits to Iranian military sites as part of their monitoring duties, but not have an automatic right to visit whenever they choose.

:: In the event that Iran refuses a request to visit, an arbitration board composed of Iran and the six world powers will have to decide on whether a visit should go ahead.

:: Analysts say that the lack of an automatic right to visit is likely to be seized upon by critics, as it could give Tehran time to cover up any non-compliance by the time a visit takes place.

:: A concession by Iran is that missile sanctions will not be lifted for another eight years and a general weapons embargo will remain in place for another five years.

:: In the event that Iran breaches the agreement, a 'snapback' clause is in place that will allow sanctions to be reinstated within 65 days of Iranian non-compliance, Reuters reported.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has been a long-standing critic of the talks, described the deal as a bad mistake of historic proportions.

He said: "Iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons. Many of the restrictions that were supposed to prevent it from getting there will be lifted.

"Iran will get a jackpot, a cash bonanza of hundreds of billions of dollars, which will enable it to continue to pursue its aggression and terror in the region and in the world."

Iranian state television reported that a joint statement will be read around midday by European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.

Tehran and the six world powers have been holding marathon negotiations at the ministerial level for more than a fortnight to resolve a 12-year stand-off over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The six countries are Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States.

The West has long been concerned that Iran holds ambitions to build a nuclear bomb. Tehran says its nuclear programme is purely to generate energy for civilian purposes.

Sanctions imposed upon Iran by the West, including restrictions on the sale of oil, have been harmful to Iran's economy and the country has been keen to see them lifted.