U.N. Council backs Iran nuclear deal but Tehran hardliners object

The U.N. Security Council on Monday backed Iran's nuclear agreement with world powers but the Islamic Republic's Revolutionary Guards attacked the resolution, underlining powerful opposition to the deal.

U.S. President Barack Obama hailed the United Nations endorsement, saying it showed last week's accord commanded broad international support as the best way of ensuring Iran never gets nuclear weapons, Reuters reports.

The European Union also approved the deal, which curbs Iran's nuclear program in return for easing economic sanctions, while Germany rapidly moved to revive its once close trading relationship with Tehran.

At the United Nations, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that was negotiated as part of the agreement reached in Vienna between Iran and the six powers.

In return for lifting the U.S., EU and U.N. sanctions that have crippled its economy, Iran must accept long-term limits on the nuclear program that the West suspected was aimed at creating an atomic bomb, but which Tehran says is peaceful.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power said the deal would make the world "safer and more secure".

However, the agreement still faces opposition in the U.S. Congress and some Middle East states, including Israel and Saudi Arabia, as well as from the Revolutionary Guards and other Iranian hardliners.

Even before the Council passed the resolution in New York, top Guards commander Mohammed Ali Jafari denounced it for interfering with Iran's military operations and crossing "red lines" set by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. "We will never accept it," he was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.

Iranian hardliners are worried that U.N. inspectors may gain some access to sensitive military sites under the resolution, which becomes international law.

The country’s senior nuclear negotiator, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, dismissed critics' concerns and called the resolution an "unprecedented achievement in Iran’s history". The deal must be approved by Iran's National Security Council and later by Khamenei. Parliament's role is not clear.