PHOTO: A girl holds up a sign “Iran the Proud” during Tuesday night’s celebrations of nuclear deal (Mehr)


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Analysis: Nuclear Deal — Understanding A Victory That Comes With Costs


As observers sift through the details of the nuclear deal between Iran and the 5+1 Powers, Iranians have been celebrating across the Islamic Republic.

The deal was announced on Tuesday morning, after more than a decade of conflict and negotiations. It establishes long-term limits on Iran’s uranium enrichment and nuclear facilities in return for the lifting of sanctions on Tehran.

See Iran Special: A 5-Point Guide to the Nuclear Agreement
Iran Document: The Statement on the Nuclear Deal
Iran Daily, July 14: Tehran and 5+1 Powers Announce Nuclear Deal

There were a variety of messages from the celebrations.

Some thanked the Supreme Leader, President Rouhani, and Foreign Minister Zarif while remembering five Iranian scientists assassinated in an attempt to slow Iran’s nuclear program:

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Others paid tribute to Rouhani by wearing purple, his campaign color from the 2013 Presidential election:

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There was praise for “Iran Wins Peace” while “Condolences, Condolences” extended to Israel:

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And there were jibes at the Islamic Republic’s hardliners, some of whom had opposed any agreement — “Where were you when they were embezzling billions?” and

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Perhaps most poignantly — given the juxtaposition of the nuclear talks with the regime’s crackdown on dissent after the disputed 2009 Presidential election — there were signs that Iranians have not forgotten. Here a woman, holding Rouhani’s posted and wearing a purple ribbon, also sported a wristband for the Green Movement that tried to change Iranian politics and society in 2009, but whose leaders — Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and Zahra Rahnavard — are still detained after almost 4 1/2 years.

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(Photos from Mehr News Agency)


Rouhani Joins Celebrations But Gets In Twitter Fight With Israel’s Netanyahu

President Rouhani has joined the Iranian celebrations on social media, but he has also used Twitter to push back against criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Rouhani hailed the nuclear agreement:

But he then turned to Netanyahu’s office, which opened a Farsi-language Twitter account to write, “Hundreds of billions of dollars the [Iranian] regime will receive from this agreement will be spent on terrorism and arms and not on hospitals and schools.”


Oil Minister: Exports Up by 1 Million Barrels Per Day by January

Oil Minister Bijan Namdar-Zanganeh has asserted that Iran’s oil exports will reach their pre-sanctions level of 2.2 million barrels per day by January 2016.

Iran’s exports fell to a historic low of less than 800,000 bpd in 2013 but recovered to between 1.1 million and 1.4 million bpd in the months before Tuesday’s nuclear agreement.

Zanganeh has been bullish about the prospects for post-deal recovery. Analyst Richard Nephew assesses that Iran’s increase in exports is likely to be between 300,000 and 500,000 bpd, but 1 million bpd “is probably going to be optimistic”.

See Iran Analysis: Nuclear Deal — Understanding A Victory That Comes With Costs