Iran and six world powers including the U.S. announced early Sunday that they had reached an interim agreement that would for the first time roll back portions of Iran’s nuclear program. In return, some economic sanctions against Iran would be eased. President Barack Obama hailed the accord, calling it an important first step toward a comprehensive agreement to ensure that Iran’s nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the interim deal was a mistake because it “explicitly and dangerously recognizes that Iran will be allowed to enrich uranium.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sees the Iran agreement as a threat to regional stability. Senior Saudi Arabia officials have voiced concerns that a partial deal would leave Iran capable of continuing to conceal elements of a nuclear program able to produce a bomb within an unacceptably rapid period of time. William Beeman, Professor and Chair of Anthropology and specialist in Middle East studies at the University of Minnesota, sees the Iran accord as primarily symbolic.