‘You can’t bomb that assurance out of Iran’

A deal on limiting Iran's nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief is strong because there are “strong incentives for both sides to adhere to it”, according to a former UK ambassador to Iran.

Sir Richard Dalton said the deal was not the end of a long journey to reach an agreement, but the start of a new journey to implement it.

“The US and its negotiating partners have no better plan for providing assurance to the international community that Iran will never develop a nuclear weapon,” said Sir Richard.

“You can’t bomb that assurance out of Iran; you can’t sanction that assurance out of Iran.”