Iran calls on Americans to invest in the country

The American Iranian Council, which promotes better relationships between the United States and Iran, said in a statement on Sunday: “The prisoner exchange, Iran’s dutiful implementation of its nuclear obligations, and the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions all herald a new era of US-Iran relations”.

Tensions have persisted, however, with the US Treasury on Sunday announcing new sanctions on individuals and companies in connection with Iran’s ballistic missile program.

As part of the prisoner swap, the U.S. offered clemency to seven Iranians, six of whom are dual U.S.-Iranian citizens, who had been convicted or were awaiting trial in the United States., the official said. He said the country will react to the “propagandist and harassing measures by following up on its legal missile program in earnest and further improve the country’s defense capabilities and national security”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had verified that Iran had restricted its sensitive nuclear activities.

But Obama said “there remain profound differences between the USA and Iran”, including the country’s violations of human rights and its ballistic missile program.

(President Obama) “We remain steadfast in opposing Iran’s destabilizing behavior elsewhere, including its threats against Israel and our Gulf partners, and its support for violent proxies in places like Syria and Yemen”. “I hope that we get to see him today, and he hopes we get to see him too”.

What the lifting of sanctions means for Iran and the Middle East.

One of the most important financial aspects of the nuclear deal – an issue that Tehran insisted on during the negotiations – is that Iranian banks be allowed, once again, to obtain so-called SWIFT codes.

Cruz and fellow Republican presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio praised Iran’s release of five detained Americans on Sunday, but said the deal the White House made to win their freedom would lead to more Americans being taken “hostage”.

Even without public pronouncements, Riyadh’s private consternation could be discerned in the pages of semi-official media and comments by influential clerics. Its answer: probably not.

In theory, even small businessmen in Iran can export things like Persian carpets and pistachios to the West – although analysts say it will be the government and the Iranian regime’s business interests that are the first to benefit from the economic opening.

As part of the JCPOA, Iran has filled the Arak nuclear reactor’s core part calandria with concrete to decommission it. Earlier, China, the United States, France, the UK, Russia and Germany agreed to participate in redesigning and construction of the modernized reactor. Over the years Iran moved closer and closer to having the ability to build a nuclear weapon. “If Americans take action in other areas other than nuclear, they will receive the appropriate response”, Hassan Rouhani said.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is equally suspicious of USA actions in the region and its intentions in Iran. “We will catch them if they try to cheat”, he added.

Speaking at an energy summit in Abu Dhabi, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius vowed world powers would be “extremely strict in monitoring the implementation” of the agreement. They said Iran needs to understand the fighting won’t be resolved as long as Syrian President Bashar Assad remains in power.

Such concerns are only compounded by the sectarian lines along which the rivalry has become drawn, and the likelihood that hostility between Saudi Arabia and Iran will translate into religious competition that fuels militancy across the world.

Khosravi-Roodsari decided not to leave Iran, senior White House officials said.