World leaders lift economic sanctions imposed against Iran

Other restrictions that the bloc imposed on Iran over human rights violations will stay in place since they were not part of the deal over Iran’s nuclear program.

Israel tried to prevent the accord, arguing the deal would not stop Tehran from developing an atomic weapon if it wished.

Within minutes, the United States formally lifted banking, steel, shipping and other sanctions on Iran, a major oil producer which has been virtually shut out of global markets for the past five years.

Under the agreement, Iran freed four Iranian-American prisoners, including Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, for seven Iranian nationals serving their sentence at United States jails. He praised their release and the nuclear accord as a “reminder of what we an achieve with strength and wisdom, with courage and resolve and patience”.

“[Iran is] not a threat to any government or nation…”

It is also a crowning achievement for Mr Rouhani, a pragmatic cleric elected in 2013 in a landslide on a promise to reduce Iran’s worldwide isolation. While Obama emphasized that the USA continues to have deep concerns about Iran’s destabilizing actions in the Middle East and its threats to Israel, he also opened up the prospect of Tehran working more cooperatively with the rest of the world.

The sanctions have cost Iran more than more than $160bn (£102bn) in oil revenue since 2012 alone. “This evening, we are really reminded once again of diplomacy’s power to tackle significant challenges”.

Addressing lawmakers in parliament he said Iran, no longer burdened by sanctions, would seek foreign investment of Dollars 30-50 billion annually, to dramatically spur growth to eight per cent.

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

Udi Segal, diplomatic affairs correspondent for Israel’s top-rated television station Channel 2, said in a commentary that Israel “has no set strategy for the day after the (nuclear) deal” and was biding its time until Obama steps down next year.

Together, the lifting of sanctions and the prisoner deal help to ease the hostility between Tehran and Washington that has shaped the Middle East since Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

” Tonnes of uranium have been shipped out of Iran, thousands of centrifuges have been taken out of use and the core has been removed from the Arak reactor”.

In July, Iran and world powers reached the JCPOA, entrusting the IAEA with verifying and monitoring Tehran’s commitments under the nuclear deal.

A US State Department official described the move as not related to the nuclear agreement. But under the July 14 deal, it agreed to crimp programs which could be used to make nuclear weapons in return for an end to sanctions. “We’ll know if Iran ever tries to break out”. US student Matthew Trevithick was released independently of the exchange on Saturday and already was on his way home.

Gulf stocks tumbled on their first trading day of the week on Sunday, with the Saudi Tadawul All-Shares Index opening down 6.5 per cent and the Dubai and Qatar exchanges both diving 6 per cent at the opening.

A “snapback” mechanism ensures that numerous sanctions can be swiftly reimposed, and a special joint commission is meant to handle any misunderstandings.