European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton delivers a statement during a ceremony at the United Nations in GenevaThrough Parisa Hafezi and Justyna Pawlak GENEVA (Reuters) – Iran and six world powers clinched a deal on Sunday curbing the Iranian nuclear program in change for initial sanctions aid, signaling the beginning of a sport-changing rapprochement that would reduce the danger of a wider Middle East battle. Aimed at easing an extended festering standoff, the interim p.c. between Iran and the US, France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia won the vital endorsement of Iranian clerical Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. U.S. President Barack Obama said the deal struck after marathon, tortuous and politically charged negotiations cut off Tehran's conceivable routes to a nuclear bomb. But Israel, Iran's arch-enemy, denounced the agreement as an "historic mistake".