Iran’s supreme leader warns against U.S. ‘deceit and treachery’

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, waves to people who attend in Eid al-Fitr prayer the holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Tehran.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ Time) welcomed the lifting of global sanctions against Iran, but warned that Tehran should remain wary of its old enemy the United States.

Canada has yet to lift its sanctions on Iran following the breakthrough nuclear deal because of concerns over that country’s recent ballistic missile tests.

Rouhani wrote to Khamenei on Monday to provide an update after the United Nations atomic watchdog declared that Iran had met conditions stipulated in the nuclear deal. “The comments made by some American politicians in last two, three days are suspicious”.

President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that now that sanctions have been lifted, Iran should redouble efforts to attract foreign investment and liberalize its economy.

On Sunday, President Barack Obama announced sanctions on 11 individuals over Iran’s ballistic missile testing in October and pledged to counter Iran’s “destabilizing behaviour” across the Mideast.

Khamenei, Iran’s top decision-maker, has left little doubt where he stands on whether the opening with the West should lead to a relaxing of conservative values at home. The agreement front-loaded almost all of the requirements for Tehran to disable and dismantle key nuclear activities that had put Iran in noncompliance with its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations.

“Implementation Day”, as forecast in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (“JCPOA”) in regards to Iran’s nuclear program, arrived on Saturday, January 16, 2016. In addition, and as part of the JCPOA commitments, OFAC made adjustments to various denied party lists, including the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, the Foreign Sanction Evaders List, and the Non-SDN Iran Sanctions List.