Rouhani hails ‘golden page’ in Iran’s history as sanctions lifted

The United States no longer has grounds to impose further sanctions on Iran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday at a briefing dedicated to the beginning of the implementation of the nuclear deal reached by Teheran and the six world powers in Vienna in July 2015. Saturday, after the United Nations said Iran had met the terms of the agreement, he warned that Iran has not ended “its ambition to obtain nuclear weapons, and continues to act to destabilize the Middle East and spread terror throughout the world”.

US President Barack Obama defended the settlement in a televised statement from the White House, saying it was for “much less than the amount Iran sought”.

Moments later, President Obama hailed the nuclear deal, which is being implemented following verification by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that Iran had restricted its sensitive nuclear activities.

Iran also released four Iranian-Americans for seven Iranians in USA prisons as part of a prisoner swap.

The Obama adminstration announced new penalties on 11 individuals and entities involved in Tehran’s ballistic missles program.

The action had originally been planned for December 30, as Secretary of State John Kerry was negotiating the prisoner trade that secured the release of five Americans from Iran this weekend.

Iranian state television said they departed on a special plane to Bern in Switzerland but USA officials told American media that Khosravi-Roodsari was not on board.

As well as California-born Rezaian, sentenced to unspecified jail time past year having been tried for espionage, Iran has been holding three other Iranian-American citizens. They had severely damaged the Iranian economy. “So we don’t make that judgment for him”, said the official, who asked not to be named in order to discuss sensitive diplomatic issues.

The US move comes after an Iranian missile test carried out in October that broke a UN Security Council resolution restricting the development of missiles that are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

Kerry said, “They should be on their way home to their families before long”.

He went on to insist that “Iran will not get its hands on a nuclear bomb”.

The nuclear talks have brought a sense of normalcy to relations with the US and Iran, with top officials from each country in somewhat regular communication. He described the nuclear deal and the release of the five American detainees as evidence that “a strong, confident America” can advance its interests by engaging with its enemies.

In his statement, Rowhani said that Iran was ready to relegate years of acrimony with the West to the past.

Tens of billions of dollars’ worth of Iranian assets will now be unfrozen and global companies that have been barred from doing business there will be able to exploit a market hungry for everything from automobiles to airplane parts.

“Now that Iran’s actions have been verified, it can begin to receive relief from certain nuclear sanctions and gain access to its own money that had been frozen”, Obama said from the White House.