After the marathon 18-day Vienna talks a historic deal was signed on Tuesday between Iran and six global powers -- the US, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany. The deal is aimed at heading off Iran's nuclear ambition. At the same time it will resolve the 13 year stand-off between Iran and the West by lifting the international sanctions that have strangled Iranian economy and meant severe hardship to its people. 

The agreement is a triumph of multilateral diplomacy. It brought together the great powers to resolve the Iranian crisis in a peaceful way rather than resorting to the often flaunted military means. The deal happens at a particularly explosive time when the Middle East is grappling with the rise of IS which holds sway over a large area of Syria and Iraq. According to experts, the agreement will help foster cooperation between Tehran and Washington to deal with this growing threat. 

The accord will be a great boost for Iran's oil export, the fifth largest OPEC country, and will unblock its billions of dollars in frozen assets. It will enable Iran to realise its enormous potential and the world economy will also be immensely benefited from its great opening up. 

We heartily welcome this breakthrough in the relations between Iran and the West. We hope this deal will contribute a lot to bring peace and stability in the Middle East by introducing a new balance of power in this volatile region.