Iranians welcome deal as step to prosperity

Iranians welcomed the country's nuclear agreement with world powers in the hope that it will lead to a lasting deal that will bring prosperity to a blighted economy.

Most in the country have been tuned in to televisions during the Persian New Year holidays to monitor the marathon talks in Switzerland for the past eight days.

The "framework" over which Iran and the six powers - US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany - agreed on will significantly reduce Iran's nuclear capabilities in return for sanctions relief, the details of which will be drafted by the end of June.

"It is great news. We have suffered from insecurity and uncertainty for too long not knowing what was going to happen," said Mastaneh, a 40-year-old divorced woman from a middle-class family who is looking for a job. "The economic stagnation in recent years has meant that my family and relatives have not been able to make any decisions even as small as upgrading a car."

Zari, a 43-year-old masseur, said she did not expect the agreement to help turn Iran into a paradise. "But we shall be able to have better planning for our lives from now on and I personally can have more hope for the future of my only daughter," she said.

International sanctions over the nuclear programme combined with populist domestic policies have not only brought high inflation - currently at around 16 per cent - but have paralysed many industries which are either shut down or functioning at 50 per cent of capacity.

Youth unemployment of around 27 per cent has created an army of educated young people who cannot find jobs, putting many families under financial pressure.

The agreement is not expected to lead to any immediate breakthrough in Iran's economy but it can have a quick psychological impact, analysts say.

"This itself is good enough to have a significant psychological impact both politically and economically . . . on the Iranian population and the business community [which] could translate into positive reactions in the forex, stock and real estate markets as well as increased consumer and business spending," said Amir Cyrus Razzaghi, head of Ara Enterprise, a private consulting group.

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But some businessmen are more sceptical.

"I'm not sure what this agreement does for Iran in the interim. Certainly when and if there is a final deal the devil will be in the details as to when and how western companies can access the Iranian market," said Amir Handjani, an Iranian-American oil and gas executive in Dubai.

"Right now without a signed comprehensive agreement no western company, other than those that have permission from the US Treasury or EU regulators will take the reputational risk and buck sanctions," he said. "The risks far outweigh the rewards for now."

There are some conservative people, too, who are dismayed at the agreement even though there is no public criticism yet. Since Iran's supreme leader and ultimate decision maker, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has thrown his support behind the negotiating team, most hardliners feel they cannot sabotage the talks as this would be treated as a challenge to the leader.

But privately, they express their discontent and blame president Hassan Rouhani for wrongly briefing the top leader about the country's economic hardships and the need to reach a nuclear accord.

"Such an agreement means Rouhani has sold out Iran to western powers," said Ali, a 37-year-old member of Basij, the voluntary forces of the elite Revolutionary Guards. "Iran will be ruined with this deal."

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