US Imposes Sanctions on Iran for Ballistic Missile Program

Behrouz Kamalvandi, spokesman of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, said that “we want to shorten this period and this is possible with the help of the Agency”, the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying on Monday. The article pointed out that Teheran’s top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had said new sanctions under any pretext would constitute a breach of the nuclear deal.

In exchange for the release of the Americans, the US will either pardon or drop charges against seven Iranians – six of them dual citizens – accused or convicted of violating USA sanctions.

“Today is a good day”, Obama said in a White House speech on Sunday. “We hope the Saudi authorities can learn lessons from what has happened and take actions that benefit both its own and regional interests”, said Rouhani.

While U.S. officials say Iran will only pocket about $50 billion of those assets after legal claims, the announcement of this new settlement is expected to fuel criticism that the Obama administration is funding a regime bent on destroying the United States.

Kerry also confirmed the release of the fourth Iranian-American freed in the prisoner swap, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, and American Matthew Trevithick, who was released in a separate process.

“The nuclear deal is an opportunity that we should use to develop the country, improve the welfare of the nation, and create stability and security in the region”, Rouhani said.

“Fundamentally, the prisoner release is a testament to how willing governments are to negotiate with terrorists; they just don’t want to call it that”, said Danielle Pletka, senior vice president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.

Obama, in his statement, also referred to Iran’s meddling in countries like Syria and Yemen.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch balked at trading Iranians legitimately prosecuted in open US proceedings for Americans held at whim and tried in secret courts, as Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian was. Three of them have flew to a U.S. base in Germany. Key for Iran’s struggling economy is that the country can now return to the worldwide banking system and global oil market.

The Vienna agreement was nailed down after two years of negotiations following Rouhani’s election.

The restrictions aim to increase the time Iran would need to make enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon from several months to a year. The agreement front-loaded almost all of the requirements for Tehran to disable and dismantle key nuclear activities that had put Iran in noncompliance with its Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) obligations.