Rouhani hails political victory for Iran as nuclear deal takes effect

“The US sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile programme… have no legal or moral legitimacy”, foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said in a televised news conference.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that lifting global sanctions on his country is not enough for improvement of economic condition in the country.

The U.N. atomic agency announced Saturday that Iran has met all of its obligations under a landmark nuclear deal with six world powers. Obama said the negotiations made way for a new diplomatic channel with Iran, one that he said would remain open during the search for former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Robert Levinson, who was last seen on Iran’s Kish Island in March 2007.

Jan 18, 2016- The US has imposed fresh sanctions on Iranian companies and individuals over a recent ballistic missile test.

In two days of fast-moving diplomacy at the weekend, five Americans were freed by Iran on Saturday and on Sunday the USA and Iranian presidents hailed the implementation of Tehran’s nuclear deal, which saw Washington and the European Union lift sanctions.

The U.S. will also drop Interpol “red notices” – essentially arrest warrants – on about 14 Iranians outside the U.S, according to The Washington Post. Still, he said the accord “doesn’t wipe away all of the concerns” of the worldwide community, and “verification remains, as it always has been, the backbone of this agreement”. Three of them have flew to a United States base in Germany. Iran also got $1.3 billion in interest, which Obama said was much less than it had sought.

Information that US President Barack Obama’s administration deferred the announcement of new sanctions for a month in order to ensure the return of its prisoners was disclosed yesterday.

“Iran’s implementation of the nuclear-related measures…, as verified by the International Atomic Energy Agency, marks a fundamental shift in circumstances with respect to Iran’s nuclear program”, Obama said in the executive order issued by the White House. The West had long suspected Iran’s nuclear program has military dimension.

Iran has always denied wanting nuclear weapons, saying its activities are exclusively for peaceful purposes.