russia but certainly extends to european partners that are also banging on the doors of tehran for commercial deals. >> for the moment giving us senior political analyst gives us perspective on this deal from london london. so just to recab then our top story of the day an agreement finally reached foreign ministers from iran and six world powers have announced a nuclear deal in vienna and holding a roundtable meeting as we speak with hours of talks to find list that pact and curbs the program in exchange for relief from sanctions and zarif described it as a historic agreement. here is what the eu foreign policy chief and iran's foreign minister had to see a little earlier this hour as they began their meeting. >> it is a decision that can open the way to a new chapter in

international relations and show that the diplomacy, coordination corporation can overcome decades of tensions and confrontations. i think this is a sign of hope for the entire world and we know it's very much needed in these times. >> let me begin by expressing my appreciation to everybody, to those who started this process and those who have continued this process in order to reach a win-win solution on what in our view was an unnecessary crisis and open new horizons for dealing with serious problems that affect our international community. 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. today could have been the end of hope on this issue but now we are starting a new chapter of hope and let's build on that and let's consider this everyone's achievement. >> let's get more perspective on this historic deal now and we have an iran author and journalists and joins me live now from london thank you for being with us and first of all your initial reaction then to the news of this deal. >> well, as you said it is going to change the entire picture in the middle east but in iran itself i think it would bring about a degree of economic prosperity and transparency and rule of law and i think if people are looking for more westernzation it would be much later because i think there will be some even reaction and see what happened after the iran and

iraq war ended and we may see something more of an internal heat in terms of relations culturally with the west however, iran's international position would be strengthened and the government would be working on that line. >> with larger implications across the region obviously as you know a lot of complicated alliances and rivalries in the middle east but how will the various arab capitols be reacting to all of this do you think? >> naturally there are a lot of disappointments in many arab capitols in the gulf region and saudi arabia in particular and in some other countries but nevertheless i think the iran relations and especially with this neighbor would be far more pragmatic in the next few months until the whole deal is ratified and zarif and rouhani will try

to have strength and not just political strength outside and therefore me feeling is iran would be more cooperating in terms of the issues in iraq and syria and yemen and other countries and therefore will strengthen economically in order to reach what it had culturally and historically in that region therefore i think there will be a degree of cooperation and understanding but it will take time. we should not expect immediate change and between iran and outside neighbor some of them at least has been for decades and we need time to see how each side will adjust themselves to the new reality. >> what does this mean you think for iran's relations with the u.s. obviously there has been a lot of animosity on that front over the last 30 years and don't have any formal diplomatic

relations so what does that do for them going forward? >> we have to separate that in terms of diplomatic relation also be improved beg your pardon, i don't see immediate change diplomatically for the battle right now and it will take two months but i think however technologically and economically there will be improved relations with u.s. and especially the oil companies will go to iran and more u.s. tourists going to iran but as far as cultural changes are concerned it will take back seat for the time being because rouhani and his team knows not to antagonize them because culture is more significant on the surface and economy is more important and technology and i think iran would benefit from technology especially american technology and american

financial institutions without being seen to be as they see it but i think iran and the last will be finding its place as a major partner with the west as well as with china and russia and be an independent power, not a power that is dependant on this or that block. >> good to get your thoughts on this analyst joins us there from london and thanks very much for your time. >> thank you. let's go live to vienna where that announcement was given just a few minutes ago. james base diplomatic editor has been following all of this for us, james, what can we expect then over the coming hours as the foreign ministers continue to meet in private, are we expecting more public statements? >> we absolutely are. we are expecting many more public statements and we are expecting after they finish what

is called the plenery the meeting of the ministers and six countries negotiating with iran and iran and they will all come in a press conference room we are expecting and we are going to hear some xhentsz comments from them and a series taking place of differ foreign ministers and also expecting sometime in the coming hours to hear from the president of iran president rouhani and president of the u.s. president obama and likely to make addresses because for them this is a historic moment and historic deal and some will say it's a historically good deal and some will say it's a historically bad deal but when you report a story for you to use the word historic but i think it will for 36 years since the iran revolution in 1979 36 years of miss trust and

hostility, a deal like this i think is a reset for relations between the two countries. remember iran had a nuclear program for a very long time 1967 48 years ago is when iran first got nuclear technology and a little footnote to history and worth explaining to you where iran got that first operation in 1967 then governed by the shaw and that technology came from the united states under a program called atoms for peace. >> indeed and james last looking at some of the lines coming out in the last few minutes we are getting reaction from france's foreign minister saying quite possibly he will travel to tehran and he is also saying that he is quite confident that this is a deal that can work and it gives you an idea and france a key player in negotiations and one of the six main western

powers and gives you an idea of just how much they are invested in this agreement not just economically but politically. >> yeah, absolutely. france is an important player in the countries that have been negotiating with iran and in many ways france throughout this and certainly when they were negotiating the interim agreement, first interim agreement in geneva france was very much the hawk in all of this taking a tougher line than the united states, on the other side of things the french foreign minister knows there are french business interests that are very very keen to do business with iran. we've had lots of european delegations going to iran in resent months the italian minister was in iran and italy until the most resent sanctions and was the biggest trading partner in the union with iran so yes some of it is to seal the deal but i think in reality

there is a name by some of the countries involved here to get involved with what is potentially a very big market down the line iran still has serious problems even though it's going to get a lot of money or a wind fall over over $100 billion of money that has been frozen and be able to have access to but it also has a lot of requirement and need a great deal of unemployment people and great number of people in iran who will be expecting to see their lives change very quickly and always in these circumstances it takes a fair bit of time for sanctions to be lifted and the effect to actually trickle down to the ordinary man in the street. >> james as you said expect that we will be hearing much more from the leaders involved in this and james base diplomatic editor live from vienna and this land mark deal comes after decades of

condemnation of iran and widespread sanctions of the program, since 1970 it has been party to the treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons but in 2006 iran announced it would start enriching enriching enriching uranium but says it's for peaceful purposes and we have a political science professor at tehran university and says a deal will be welcome in iran for a number of reasons. >> millions of iran people have been waiting, waiting and waiting to hear words from vienna during the past two weeks and it's a psychological more than anything else it would be a psychological effect on iran

people and feel relief of waiting and expectation anxiously to see whether or not the country's negotiating team have struck a deal with five plus one. it won't change anything between iran and israel and the islamic department of iran has maintained that i do not recognize the state of israel and iran has always maintained full support for palestinian cause but i think it will to some extent it will change maybe the relation with saudi arabia and other arab states in the region. >> now this agreement marks a significant turning point in iran's role ship with the u.s. which we have been saying for decades was characterized by

miss trust and deception and putting aside hostilities in pursuit of a nuclear deal and tom ackerman reports. >> i believe there is a basis for resolution. >> reporter: barack obama soon after his 2013 phone call to rouhani the first contact between leaders in three decades and a cautious improvement in relations between iran and the u.s. a relationship cemented in the cold war year of 1953 when the u.s. with britain engineer the over throw of iran democratic prime minister and the shaw in the throne and ruled as a brutal monarch for the next 26 years until he was ousted in 1979 by followers of homani and he called the u.s. the great satin for supporting the shaw and stoked his followers' revenge and held american

diplomates and citizens hostage for 444 days. the action by these radical students was a key element in intensify ing intensifying a strain in relations and the hostility with which iran rhetoric has addressed the u.s. >> reporter: the hostages eventually released on january 20, 1981 the day that ronald reagan took office and a snub to jimmy carter who authorized a failed rescue attempt and billions in arms and intelligence to soohoussain and downing of an airline by a missile killing 290 civilians aboard and the mistaken shoot down a consequence of u.s. skirmise is and hezbollah had taken more hostages and led to

another political scandal in washington reagan's secret program with iran and in the build up to the 2003 invasion of iraq president george bush branded them with iraq and north korea as a global menace >> they constitute an axis of evil. >> reporter: the successor as the leader has maintained the hostile rhetoric against the u.s. >> translator: who is backing up this insecurity, it's america and their agents and it's they who promote terrorism. >> reporter: today american's concern about the nuclear program with uneasy in the middle east and they aspire to a very major role and this has put iran and the u.s. at cross hairs

on many major regional issues. >> reporter: yet the u.s. and ran find themselves in common cause against the taliban in afghanistan and now against i.s.i.s. but that does not mean their differences have been bridged, tom ackerman al jazeera, washington. let's get more reaction from the u.s. on this deal now allen fisher is live for us in the u.s. capitol washington and allen it's just coming up, to 6:00 in the morning there so many people still waking up to the news of this historic agreement. what are they likely to be saying? >> well, i think the views on iran are very polarized in the united states because of the calm outlined and what is a dislike and distrust and hatred of iran because of the hostage crisis and those against iran will be against the deal and it's telling that benjamin

netanyahu will perhaps set the tone for many republicans in this country and remember he was invited to speak to congress a few months ago to express his distrust of the deal to express his dismay negotiating and republicans will take the view from that. what is likely to happen is there will be moves in congress to try and block this bill. can it stop america signing up to this agreement? no it can't and they can impose a bill saying america cannot lift sanctions and president obama could veto that and we have to go back to congress and has to be an overwhelmingly majority to try to over ride that and if you say they support what the president is doing it's highly unlikely they can do it and they can delay it but not stop it and they will be polarized and some will think it was good and positive engagement and stopped iran and engagement in the tracks and helped cement

an international coalition if iran begins that process again but those on the other side will say that this is a bad deal a bad deal for israel a bad deal for the middle east and a bad deal for the united states even though me of them won't have read it we know some of them have said we want to stop this bill before they even know the details. >> it's fair to say allen that president obama's record in the middle east over the last years has been a mixed bag and supporters of him would say that so how important is this deal then for president obama's legacy as he goes into the last year of his presidency? >> well of course he made the very famous speech in his first terms and said he wanted a different sort of relationship with the middle east and had hoped that pushing through a peace plan with israelis and palestinians might be the way to do it but that has been blocked off so reactivating the talks

with iran and you said it years ago that was a possibility and i think no one would have thought there would be talks never mind agreement and it will be in that perspective so it's a significant development for him particularly when it comes to painting his legacy and he won the nobel peace prize and those in negotiations will look towards the end of the year. >> allen fisher live for us from washington, thanks for that and just to let you know as well we are expecting a short statement from the u.s. president barack obama at around 1100 gmt, that is in just a few minutes from now and we will of course hope to bring that to you, staying with the u.s. though many people in the large iran american community have been watching this situation closely with mixed feelings depending on their political views and rob reynolds met one american who makes his living cracking jokes

about the difficulties between the countries. >> reporter: comedian's humor spokes fun and plays for laugh the tensions of u.s. iran and the middle east. >> like we are very sneaky and like we have a nuclear program. okay, we have but it's a peaceful nuclear program, it's peaceful. i will blow you up then we hug you. >> reporter: he was born in tehran and his family left in the middle of the islamic revolution and he grew up in california which has one of the largest iran/american populations in the u.s. >> there is a lot of iran and a lot of different view points. there is persian jews and persian muslims and persian armanians and different relations and persian republicans and persian

democrats. >> reporter: he wrote a book showing how much they get wrong of middle easterners. >> trying to make fun of how hollywood mixes it up with arab or pakistan or whatever it is they put us altogether. >> reporter: says many believe that iran's are untrustworthy. >> and see it with talks and different factions that come and say don't trust iranians but many don't trust them in general. >> reporter: since 1979 the relationship between the u.s. and iran has been bitter and sometimes violent. still he finds ways to make the situation funny. >> you hear some crazy stuff coming out of iran and out of america and there is humor in everything and look when bush were in power and presidents i mean i didn't have to write

jokes, i would report on what either one of them said and it was funny. >> reporter: he has a comedy film coming out about a private eye in los angeles. >> i'm jimmy like clint eastwood but west wood. >> reporter: one day he hopes to bring his stand up comedy routine to tehran but not any time soon, rob reynolds al jazeera, los angeles. more reaction details for you on that historic deal on iran's nuclear program. we understand major powers agreeing on the mechanism on what the international atomic energy agency that is the agency involved in the inspections and verifying that iran is sticking to the agreement, saying they could get access to suspect nuclear site within 24 days. we understand that is part of

the text of this iran nuclear deal. also reaction on social media on this iran president rohani on his twitter feed confirming the nuclear deal says it's constructive engagement and more reaction and details to come but now we go back to jerusalem and al jazeera joins us there from west jerusalem and the reaction from the israeli prime minister has been pretty unsurprising given his past statements and opposition to this deal. >> israeli prime minister netanyahu has been the most vocal critic of this deal of any world leader and should point out that they are not involved in any negotiations, however throughout the entire process mr. netanyahu has been extremely critical and i think it says an

awful lot about how he feels about the deal given the fact before it was even formally announced that an agreement had been reached a good hour-and-a-half before mr. netanyahu made a televised address where he didn't hold back here is what he said. >> but our concern of course is that the militant islamic state of iran is going to receive a sure path to nuclear weapons and many of the restrictions that were supposed to prevent it from getting there will be lifted and in addition iran will get a jackpot, a cash bonanza of hundreds of billions of dollars which will enable it to pursue the terror in the region and in the world. this is a bad mistake of historic proportions. >> a bad mistake of epic proportions as mr. netanyahu put it but he has used much stronger language in the past when talking about iran and he has

compared iran to the group, the islamic state of iraq and levent and the goal is to and i quote to take over the world so again mr. netanyahu a very fierce critic of iran itself but a withering critic of this deal that has been agreed as well. >> speaking of critics there are many critics of israel who point out what they see as hyprocracy and it's assumed and not confirmed by israel it has its own nuclear weapons and they will point out the kind of contrast in the fact that the world powers are pushing iran to curb its nuclear program while they say no one is going after israel on this. >> indeed, i mean i think most

people are very clear and very aware that israel has nuclear weapons, is nuclear capable, is the only country in the middle east with that kind of capability. but the fact of the matter is that israel is also has very powerful relations, not only with the united states which of course is its strongest ally but also with other western powers including the united king m doll and countries like france and germany so their nuclear program if you will has never been criticized publically from the western powers and certainly there are those critics out there who question why israel is effectively allowed to have a nuclear arsenal and iran had to go through these years and years of isolation and sanctions and has only been able to get through that after months and months and months of very very careful negotiations with the

world powers to curb its nuclear am ambitions and mr. .net nerve has criticism at home from opposition politicians, opposition politicians who say mr. netanyahu has failed to stop this deal and some of these opposition leaders have been very withering about mr. netanyahu saying he was used such strong language that people weren't taking him seriously. again as we have been mentioning and suggesting that iran's ultimate goal to take over the world was in the words of one israeli politician foolish and they have a weaker one than israel and the economy is smaller than the u.s. state of new york so again many people criticizing mr. netanyahu for overstating the threat of iran when he could have put forward a very deliberate and carefully reasoned argument for not agreeing with the deal but whatever the case it's pretty clear a deal has been reached

and that iran is certainly going to be moving forward from years of isolation and sanctions. >> reporting to us there from west jerusalem in israel. now a former director general of the international atomic energy agency and joins me now from stockholm and thank you for being with us. first of all your initial reaction to the news of this deal. >> i think very positive and i think after so many years of talks between the western world and iran it is welcome that there is the result and the background was really that iran developed a nuclear program that was so large that it raised suspicions that they also intended to use it for weapons purposes and what has now happened is they are committing themselves through the reduction of scaling down this program to

make it commence with nuclear power and other purposes. so this should give confidence in the world they are not on the path to a weapon and there will be a very extensive interest in inspection to follow the discovery of energy commitments from what they are making and this has great spin offices in relaxation and iran can be expected to be of help in encountering this in the middle east and more helpful with the terrible war in syria and stability in iraq and also stability in afghanistan so there is in terms of a shift that is taking place. >> talk more about the inspection program as someone who has been involved in this kind of thing, how confident are you in the verifiability of all

of this and as to whether iran will comply with the inspections by the ia echt aea when they are called upon to do it. >> they are expected to sign on to the radical that was adopted when hi was a general and gives the inspecting powers and much greater right to demand information and right to see places and to use the modern technique and then beyond that probably also they have some details and enabling the inspectors to go even further, however, it's clear a free country like iran will also have what it will tolerate and risk otherwise the inspections will be known as harassment and to my understanding the agreement involves some sor