Jason Rezaian, other US prisoners leave Iran

The Office of Foreign Assets Control is blocking the assets of Mabrooka Trading, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, for its role in procuring components for Iran’s ballistic missiles. They won’t be on US soil for a few days, he said.

“I gave these families my word and a vow that we would do everything in our power to win the release of their loved ones”.

“You’ll notice the Obama administration announces the good news and then hides the bad news”, he said.

“After the nuclear deal was completed, the discussions between out governments accelerated”. Nuclear diplomacy with Iran has also created a better atmosphere to address other issues like the prisoner swap and last week’s release of U.S. Navy sailors from Iran, he said. Iran will pursue its “legal missile program and upgrade its defense capabilities” with “more seriousness”, according to the statement.

Obama talked about three major developments that diplomacy had achieved.

Brett McGurk said Sunday that he was “thrilled” to see Rezaian land safely in Geneva and “overwhelmed” to greet the reporter and two other Americans freed by Tehran – former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati and pastor Saeed Abedini. We have now been officially told that he is on a plance leaving the country. “There was no benefit to the United States in dragging this out”, he said.

Amano was also to meet Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s atomic organisation, to discuss monitoring and verifying Tehran’s commitments under the agreement, which allows for greater IAEA inspections. The U.S.is going to repay Iran a 400 million dollar debt that it had held since the two countries severed diplomatic ties in 1981, plus 1.3 billion dollars in interest.

“And it reflects our willingness to engage with Iran to advance our mutual interests, even as we ensure the national security of the United States”. So there was no benefit to the United States in dragging this out. An American official said on Saturday that there is no link between the nuclear deal and the release of the Americans. He listed the steps that Iran has taken to dismantle its nuclear program. Netanyahu said that the recent accord would strengthen and embolden Iran’s leaders, since the lifting of most sanctions would free up money for Tehran to arm and support the government of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Shiite militias and Israel’s enemies in the region, including Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Announcing the measures, Adam J Szubin, US acting under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said: “Iran’s ballistic missile programme poses a significant threat to regional and global security, and it will continue to be subject to worldwide sanctions”.