US, UN Lift Iran Sanctions

“The friends of Iran are happy and its competitors need not worry”.

In his address to parliament on Sunday, Rouhani said Iran should use the expected influx of money and investments to spark the “economic mutation” of the country, creating jobs and enhancing quality of life for Iranian citizens.

“With consideration to global market conditions and the surplus that exists, Iran is ready to raise its crude oil exports by 500,000 barrels a day”, Irran’s Deputy Oil Minister Amir Hossein Zamaninia was quoted as saying by the Shana news agency.

He said the USA has made it clear that it will “vigorously press sanctions against Iranian activities” outside the terms of the nuclear agreement.

Israel’s policy was and remains as it was: “not to allow Iran to obtain nuclear weapons”.

On Saturday, the worldwide nuclear watchdog IAEA declared that Iran had finally terminated its nuclear programme as part of a deal it struck with the West a year ago.

As part of the deal, Iran has promised to provide more transparency of its nuclear program, letting the United Nations nuclear inspectors be able to monitor Tehran’s atomic plan. It has kept its word.

Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement confirming the IAEA has verified that Iran “has fully implemented its required commitments”.

Following the statement UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the achievement of having reached “Implementation Day”, highlighting that he is heartened by the lifting of sanctions on Iran.

Also on Saturday, U.S. President Barack Obama signed an executive order to lift sanctions on Iran related to its nuclear program.

Senator Marco Rubio accused the Obama administration of not pushing hard enough for the American prisoners’ release when the U.S. negotiated a deal with Iran previous year.

“Years of patient and persistent diplomacy, and hard technical work, have borne fruit as we now implement the deal”.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se sent a congratulatory letter to his Iranian counterpart over the lifting of sanctions, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Tehran was still trying to build a nuclear bomb. Many have also expressed fears that lifting the economic sanctions, and the ensuing windfall Tehran will receive, will bolster its support for the Bashar Assad regime in Syria and the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah.

The declaration was followed by US and European Union announcements that some sanctions against Tehran would be immediately removed.

For Obama, the diplomatic breakthroughs are a validation of his early promise to deal directly with nations such as Iran, one that his political opponents continue to staunchly oppose.