7 days that changed US-Iran relations, explained

“We are happy for the other families”, Levinson’s family said in a statement. “These things are a reminder of what we can achieve when we lead with strength and with wisdom”.

Charges against 8 Iranians accused of violating American sanctions in the United States were either dropped or reduced on Saturday in a complex deal according to informed sources on the matter.

Among them was Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian – whom President Obama described as “courageous”.

Three U.S. contractors employed at the Baghdad International Airport are missing in Iraq and are believed to have been kidnapped by Shia militiamen after visiting the home of their interpreter.

But he still faces intense domestic opposition from hard-liners who believe he has given away too much and fear Iran’s opening to the outside world leaves it exposed to corrupting foreign cultural influences. A fifth American, language student Matt Trevithick, was also released, though not as part of the deal. President Barack Obama immediately issued an executive order revoking earlier orders that imposed nuclear sanctions on Iran, and the names of hundreds of people and companies removed from US blacklists were released in a single list.

Several Iranian-Americans held in US prisons after being charged or convicted for sanctions violations have also been released, their lawyers told Reuters on Sunday. “Nobody has been defeated in the deal neither inside the country nor the countries that were negotiating with us”, he said, referring to the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany.

The sanctions had “no legal or moral legitimacy”, a foreign ministry spokesman said. “On the sidelines of the nuke negotiations, our diplomats at the highest level, including Secretary [John] Kerry, used every meeting to push Iran to release our Americans”, he said.

Meanwhile, Iran remains a staunch backer of Syrian President Bashar Assad, putting it at odds with the USA and Sunni Arab powers including Saudi Arabia, even as it shares the West’s interest in defeating the Islamic State group.

Presenting the draft budget for the next Iranian fiscal year, which begins in March, Rouhani told parliament the deal was a “turning point” for the economy of Iran, a major oil producer which has been virtually shut out of worldwide markets for the past five years.

Iran gains immediate access to about $50 billion in frozen accounts overseas, funds the government says it will use to rebuild industries and infrastructure.

“They’re civilians, and their release is a one-time gesture to Iran given the unique opportunity offered by this moment and the larger circumstances at play”, he said.

In Tehran, ordinary Iranians were cautious about what the future holds after the lifting of sanctions. It vowed to respond with more sanctions.

The November anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran drew thousands of demonstrators, who burned American flags and hoisted signs denouncing McDonald’s and Starbucks. “I lost my technical job in a petrochemical complex in south of Iran because of the damn sanctions”.

Rouhani said the deal has “opened new windows for engagement with the world”. He has left Iran, but officials provided no additional details about his case.