The European Union and the United States have announced they are lifting economic sanctions that have long isolated Iran as a long-sought deal to settle the conflict over Tehran’s nuclear program comes into effect.
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‘I hereby confirm that the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran has fully implemented its required commitments, ‘ Kerry said.
“This will reassure the worldwide community that Iran’s nuclear programme remains exclusively for peaceful purposes”, the statement added.
“The United States today is ceasing the application of its nuclear-related statutory sanctions on Iran, including terminating relevant executive orders and licensing of certain activities, as specified in the JCPOA”, it said.
“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, according to Reuters.
“Israel’s policy has been and will remain exactly what has been followed: to not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons”, Netanyahu, known for his hawkish stand on the Iranian nuclear issue, said during a cabinet meeting.
“Relations between Iran and the IAEA now enter a new phase”, he said in a statement.
In exchange for lifting sanctions, Iran must reduce its level of uranium enrichment, dramatically reduce the size of its stockpile of enriched uranium, reduce the number of centrifuges, and agree to unfettered worldwide inspections.
Global companies that have been barred from doing business there will be able to exploit a hungry market for anything from automobiles to airplane parts. “Today we are in an atmosphere where we can have political, economic and legal interaction with the world to the benefit of our national interests”, the president said.
Rohani said Iran’s nuclear deal signed in July in Vienna with the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany was a win for all negotiating parties and all factions inside Iran.
“We will continue to enforce these sanctions vigorously”, Obama said.
Earlier on Saturday it emerged that Iran had released Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian and three other Iranian-American prisoners in an apparent prisoner swap with the United States.
With sanctions lifted, Iran plans to swiftly ramp up its exports of oil.
The landmark Iran nuclear agreement, struck July 14 after decades of hostility, defused the likelihood of USA or Israeli military action against Iran, something Zarif alluded to.
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Within hours of their release, the USA imposed sanctions against those involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program as a result of Tehran’s firing of a medium-range ballistic missile.
