Iran, big powers clinch landmark nuclear deal after marathon talks

Foreign Ministers and delegates from P5+1, the five UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany, attend a meeting during the Iran nuclear talks at a hotel in Vienna on July 13, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

VIENNA - 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 US state department spokesperson said representatives are meeting for the last time in the UN headquarters in Vienna before a press conference.

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.