And in addition to the nuclear deal, we have also seen the swap of prisoners between Iran and the United States.
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A fifth American, Matthew Trevithick, was also released on Saturday.
Meanwhile, making a statement US Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew said the report does not resolve other areas where Iran’s behavior remains unacceptable.
“None of the four Americans, including (Washington Post reporter) Jason Rezaian have left Iran yet and when it happens it will be announced officially”, said the official, who asked not to be named.
Low oil prices and years of USA and European Union sanctions that barred much of Iran’s foreign oil sales hammered its income from crude. Kerry was sure to highlight how the milestone marks a victory for the diplomatic strategy.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani touted the nuclear deal with world powers Sunday, calling the pact a “golden page” in the country’s history and said he looks for to Iran becoming less dependent on oil.
“The EU and E3+3 countries consisting of the People’s Republic of China, Republic of France, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America and Iran will also cooperate in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy in the framework of the JCPOA”.
“Everybody is happy except the Zionists, the warmongers who are fueling sectarian war among the Islamic nation, and the hardliners in the USA congress”, he added. “We give this message of peace, stability and security to the region and to the world as we protect Iran’s dignity”, the Iranian president said.
He said the USA has made it clear that it will “vigorously press sanctions against Iranian activities” outside the terms of the nuclear agreement.
Senior U.S. officials have said the Treasury retained a right under the agreement to blacklist Iranian entities allegedly involved in missile development, as well as those that support global terrorism and human-rights abuses.
Western sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program were lifted after the United Nations nuclear agency certified Saturday that Tehran had met all of its commitments under last year’s landmark agreement with world powers.
The United States also announced that it had cancelled a raft of sanctions imposed on Tehran.
Even at that level Iran’s budget would be less than 25% reliant on oil sales, with a much higher 68% of revenues coming from taxes.
He urged British firms to take advantage of the new opportunities that would open as Iran was brought in from the cold. They say his arrest and incarceration were “devastating” to his friends and family and that he’s grateful for his release.
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said the deal “makes the Middle East and the wider world a safer place”.
He warned that “Iran has not relinquished its ambition to obtain nuclear weapons, and continues to act to destabilize the Middle East and spread terror throughout the world”.
Tehran newspapers largely welcomed the implementation of the deal.
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On Sunday he told his cabinet: “Israel’s policy has been and will remain exactly what has been followed: to not allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons”.
