Cultivate Iran progress

The nuclear deal with Iran reached last November in Geneva was eight years in the making, so carrying it out will require maintaining sincerity and trust, says a Xinhua News Agency commentary.

The ice-breaking deal, requiring that Iran halts the enrichment of uranium beyond 5 percent and dilute its near-20 percent stockpile beginning on Monday, has given Iran and the whole world a long overdue hope of peace and stability. A cautious sense of optimism prevails in the international community.

For Iran, implementing the deal will ease the formidable grip of Western sanctions that have squeezed the country for so long, as the United States and its allies have pledged to relax them.

For the Western allies, a more cooperative Iran can help rebuild the balance of power in the Middle East, which will enable them to relax their diplomatic and military muscles to some extent.

There can be no doubt that it took courage for Iran and the P5+1 countries - the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany - to reach their agreement.

However, the decades-long mutual mistrust and suspicion between Iran and the Western countries will not vanish automatically.

Although US President Barack Obama had said his government will refrain from imposing new sanctions on Iran, some hawks and hardliners in Congress have called for harsh sanctions if they see any inobservance in the implementation of the deal.

Such comments, driven by political interests, are unnecessary, and they are potentially harmful to the positive momentum that has been established, as this positive development is both fragile and unstable.

Western countries should be patient with Iran, fully recognize its right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and let Iran carry out the agreement deal step by step.

At the same time, Iran should strictly fulfill the obligations it has agreed to and cooperate with all the concerned parties, so as to ease any doubts that exist and lay a solid foundation for further dialogue.

All the parties involved should demonstrate real political wisdom and address the concerns and interests of each side with complete sincerity and mutual trust. Only in this way can we give peace a chance.