Other Middle East analysts say that despite the U.S.

'What you see in this first agreement is a clear effort to make it harder for Iran to break out' and quickly produce enough uranium for a bomb. Bush, and undersecretary of State under President Clinton. ambassador to the United Nations under President George H.W. The deal 'looks clearly like the beginning of the end of the Iranian nuclear weapons program,' said Thomas Pickering, a U.S. In return, the West agreed to provide Iran about $7 billion in relief on sanctions on oil and banking that were meant to get Iran to suspend production of nuclear material until international inspectors could ascertain the program has peaceful aims, as Iran claims. Iran also agreed to stop producing medium-enriched uranium, which represents 90% of the effort required to produce weapons-grade material, and to dilute or convert that stockpile to a different form that is harder to process to fuel a bomb. Iran agreed to put a cap on its nuclear program and give international inspectors greater access to currently inspected and new sites. The next stage 'will also be even more consequential,' Kerry said.

Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters this is the first stage. Western governments and the allies of Iran praised the deal as walking the world back from a possible military confrontation with the Islamic republic over its decades-long nuclear program suspected of trying to build an atomic bomb.

'The government of Iran, month after month, has proven that it has an ugly agenda in the region, and in this regard no one in the region will sleep and assume things are going smoothly.' 'I am afraid Iran will give up something to get something else from the big powers in terms of regional politics - and I'm worrying about giving Iran more space or a freer hand in the region,' Abdullah al-Askar, chairman of Saudi Arabia's appointed Shoura Council, a quasi-parliament that advises the government on policy, told the Daily Star in Lebanon. Whether Iran complies with its promises or not, the deal reached by world powers over its nuclear program will alter the Middle East dramatically, observers and analysts say. Some critics foresee a nuclear arms race in the region.is abandoning its role as protector in the Middle East Some see it as the %22beginning of the end%22 of Itan%27s nuclear weapons program.

Rise of nations nuke