Iran deal a vindication of “strong American diplomacy”: Obama

He said the U.S. still had significant differences with Iran and would continue to enforce sanctions against its ballistic missile programme.

On Sunday, the U.S. Department of Treasury released a statement imposing sanctions on 11 companies and individuals over involvement in Iranian ballistic missile testing.

Meanwhile three Iranian-Americans have left Tehran under a prisoner swap following the lifting of sanctions on Iran.

State television said the seven Iranians Nader Modanlou, Baharam Mechanic, Khosrow Afghahi, Arash Ghahreman, Tooraj Faridi, Nima Golestaneh, and Ali Saboonchi were also being released. Iranian media say the military has test-fired several short-range missiles, including the type Palestinian militant Hamas group used to attack Tel Aviv last November.

And he defended a separate settlement at an worldwide legal tribunal which will see the U.S. repay Iran $400m (£280m) in funds frozen since 1981 plus a further $1.3bn in interest – saying there was no point “dragging this out”.

An historic nuclear deal with Iran has resulted in the freeing of United States prisoners held in the Muslim nation and the lifting of long-standing sanctions that damaged its economy.

“This is a good day because one again we are seeing what’s possibly with strong American diplomacy”, Obama told reporters at the White House.

The U.S. lifted nuclear sanctions on Iran on Saturday in exchange for Tehran’s fulfillment of its commitments to curb its nuclear program under July’s landmark deal with world powers. This, he said, would save United States money and time, as there was no point in dragging out this dispute and continuing to pay interest on the money.

A video of the USA sailors on their knees with their hands on their heads threatened to undercut the Obama administration’s claim that their quick release demonstrated improved relations between Washington and Tehran.

(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”.

But the day before the sanctions were to be imposed, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif warned Kerry that if Washington went ahead, the deal could be endangered, according to a U.S. official and congressional sources.

“We will respond to such propaganda stunts and measures meant to harm [us], by more robustly pursuing our lawful missile program and promoting our defense capabilities and national security”, the statement said.