Airing the first important public criticism of the deal, reached Saturday in Istanbul, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Jerusalem that "my initial impression is that Iran has been given a freebie. It’s got five weeks to continue enrichment without any limitation, any inhibition."

The deal was worked out by a group that includes the United States, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China. The world powers have been seeking for years to persuade Iran to negotiate limits on its program, which the group fears could be aimed at gaining bomb-making know-how.

The group decided that its best chance to coax Iran into a negotiation was to forgo any requirement that Tehran first halt enrichment. But the Israeli government fears that Iran is close to gaining all the knowledge it needs to build a bomb, and has threatened to bomb Iran’s nuclear installations if world powers cannot halt the program.