Iran nuclear sanctions ‘will be lifted today’: Zarif

Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Vienna, Austria, on Saturday for consultations with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini on implementation of the Iranian nuclear agreement.

Under the deal, Iran has agreed to forego almost all enriched uranium, which world powers feared could be used to make a nuclear weapon.

Iranian officials have said Zarif and Mogherini would issue a statement on Saturday or Sunday on the “Implementation Day” of the nuclear deal and the lifting of sanctions.

“Today is a good day for the Iranian people as sanctions will be lifted today”, Zarif was quoted as saying by the ISNA agency on Saturday.

Many observers expect the IAEA will corroborate Iranian compliance.

“Some of [the] multinational energy companies have had a presence in Iran prior to sanctions and have indicated their willingness to work with Iran when legally able”.

Republican presidential hopeful Marco Rubio and other Republicans say Americans should never have been captured in the first place and Rubio blamed the Obama administration’s willingness to do prisoner swaps in the past.

In 2010, Congress granted Obama the authority to allow exports of goods, services, or technologies to Iran if he determines those sales “to be in the national interest”.

Iran insists all of its nuclear activities are peaceful.

The sanctions have cost Iran more than more than $160bn (£102bn) in oil revenue since 2012 alone.

The EU, which on Friday said it was ready to act as soon as the IAEA gave the green light, will initially provide Iran with far more relief than the United States. His aides negotiated a deal in late 2014 that led to Cuba’s release of former US aid contractor Alan Gross and a USA intelligence operative while Washington freed three Cuban spies.

Another indicator to watch, Ross said, is the selection of candidates for upcoming parliamentary elections in Iran in late February. The move will unlock billions of dollars in frozen accounts and pave the way for a surge in Iranian oil exports as well as foreign investments into the country.

But it was a prisoner swap earlier that year – the Taliban’s release of alleged US army deserter Bowe Bergdahl in exchange for five Taliban commanders held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – that caused a backlash from Republican lawmakers.

Oil is at its lowest price in more than a decade, in part because of expectations Iranian crude will flood the market, and Iran’s currency has declined precipitously.

From Iran’s illegal ballistic missile tests last fall, to its unsafe military operations near U.S. ships, to its recent detention of two U.S. Navy vessels in the Arabian Gulf, Iran’s recent actions underscore that we must remain deeply distrustful of the regime.

“We have been quite clear from the very beginning – long before a deal was even reached – that the negotiations were focused primarily on Iran’s nuclear program”.