Iran sanctions are lifted, followed by prisoner swap with US

“Iran’s missile program has never been created to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons”, said foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaber Ansari (pictured above), according to state news agency INSA.

“Iran’s ballistic missile program poses a significant threat to regional and global security, and it will continue to be subject to worldwide sanctions”, Treasury Undersecretary Adam Szubin said in a statement.

A fourth Iranian-American, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari was also set free but chose not to leave Iran, local media reported.

Together, the lifting of sanctions and the prisoner deal help to ease the hostility between Tehran and Washington that has shaped the Middle East since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

“America sells tens of billions of dollars of weaponry each year to countries in the region”.

However, the Iranian government quickly understood that “the terms of the agreement included her”, said Kerry. The Obama administration had been under intense pressure from Republicans (and some Democrats) to impose a penalty for Iran’s two ballistic missile tests conducted in 2015.

The men allegedly had been involved in exporting products and services to Iran in violation of trade sanctions against the country.

On Saturday, US President Barack Obama signed an executive order lifting US economic sanctions on Iran.

That includes companies like payment processors MasterCard Inc. and Visa Inc., both based in the USA and thus rendering their branded credit cards useless in Iran.

Hardline newspapers Kayhan and Vatan-e-Emrooz splashed the news on their front pages, crowding out a triumphal speech by President Hassan Rouhani, who on Sunday hailed the lifting of the nuclear sanctions.

“This is a good day because once again we’re seeing what’s possible with worldwide diplomacy”, Mr Obama said. 7 Iranians in the United States were released from prison, and 14 Iranians who are not in the USA had charges dropped against them as part of the agreement, the official said.

The International Atomic Energy Agency certified Saturday that Iran had complied with the initial requirements of the nuclear deal.

A State Department official told Breitbart News on Monday afternoon that 21 Iranians were included as part of the deal.

The Mideast commercial hub of Dubai would be the most likely place in the seven-state Emirates federation for Iran to move its funds.