Laurent Fabius, who can’t be here today, had the opportunity of telling you yesterday that there are no grounds for arguing about the agreement secured in Geneva. We’re talking about a serious matter.

A major step has undeniably been taken for peace and security in the world thanks to this agreement. It obviously isn’t the end, but the fact is that for years Iran was moving towards an atomic bomb. Yet the negotiations were at a standstill. What we secured in Geneva last Sunday – i.e. concrete, verifiable commitments which admittedly allow Iran to go on with civilian nuclear energy, but prevent it from moving towards nuclear weapons – is extremely important. It was France’s firmness, in particular, which enabled us to get this result. This step forward, important though it is, isn’t enough; it’s only a step.

Everything will now depend on Iran complying with its obligations.

So we have to get down to work on negotiating a definitive settlement – which we’re already doing, since this is only an interim one – showing that Iran really does give up any military nuclear ambition.

On this issue, I’d like to point out to you that, in this first stage, we aren’t going to lift the sanctions, but suspend them for six months.

This suspension will take effect when the IAEA has indicated that Iran is applying the measures set out in the nuclear agreement. All the sanctions adopted in the framework of the Security Council will thus remain in force. We are vigilant; we’re going to check that what was endorsed in Geneva will actually be applied. This is what the P5+1, which includes France, has started working on.