US imposes ballistic missile sanctions on Iran

Under the exchange, Washington said it had granted clemency to seven Iranians, six of whom were dual US-Iranian citizens, and dropped charges against 14 others. “We remain steadfast in opposing Iran’s destabilising behaviour elsewhere”, he said.

Iran celebrated the lifting of stiff economic penalties now that the Islamic Republic has met a critical benchmark as part of the agreement to pull back its nuclear program.

The US Treasury Department said it had blacklisted the UAE-based Mabrooka Trading, and its owner Hossein Pournaghshband for helping Iran’s produce carbon fiber for the program.

But Washington says the issue of Iran’s missile tests is separate from the nuclear accord.

President Barack Obama on Sunday heralded the implementation of a nuclear deal with Iran, saying world powers had cut off every path Tehran had to a nuclear bomb and that a prisoner swap showed what was possible with diplomacy.

The new measures also came after the lifting of far more comprehensive nuclear sanctions. Also released were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, Christian pastor Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari – all four of whom have American-Iranian citizenship.

The UN’s atomic watchdog said Amano would meet with President Hassan Rouhani and Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, to discuss monitoring and verifying Iran’s commitments under the agreement.

A purchase of more than 100 aircraft from Europe’s Airbus may be one of Iran’s first big deals in a trade and investment boom that could reshape the economy of the Middle East.

On Sunday, Mr Rouhani said the implementation of the nuclear deal – negotiated with the US, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany – marked a critical moment for Iran’s relations with the world.

“Following the nuclear deal, you, especially young Iranians have the opportunity to build new ties with the world”. Iran will get more than $400 million, plus $1.3 billion in interest.

The Obama administration reportedly delayed imposing new sanctions on Iran after the country’s foreign minister warned that such a move would derail negotiations for a prisoner exchange that was announced over the weekend.

Noting that the USA has never been afraid to pursue diplomacy with adversaries, Obama said he decided that a strong, confident America could advance its national security by engaging directly with the Iranian government.

Several Iranian-Americans held in U.S. prisons after being charged or convicted for sanctions violations were also released, their lawyers told the news agency Reuters on Sunday.

“Were it not for our efforts to spearhead the sanctions and foil Iran’s nuclear program, Iran would have already had nuclear weapons long ago”.

“They need to know that this is a good step forward with respect to the nuclear weapons program but there are other areas of their behavior that we’re going to continue to be focused on”, Clinton said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program.