In remarks shortly before the USA announcement, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said that any new American sanctions would be “met by an appropriate response”. A statement by 140 Sunni Muslim clerics urged Muslims to unite against the threat of Shiite Iran.
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Rouhani said his country needs up to $50 billion in foreign investment per year to reach its goal of eight-percent annual growth. Already, some 38 million barrels of oil are in Iran’s floating reserves, ready to enter the market, according to the International Energy Agency.
Iran’s central bank has said the total is much smaller at $29 billion, but that would by itself still cover several months of imports of goods and services.
The repayment, arranged after an global legal tribunal, is separate from the tens of billions of dollars that Iran can now access after the end of nuclear sanctions.
Mr. Obama said he was hopeful the events signalled an opportunity for Iran to work more cooperatively with the rest of the world.
A photograph of him speaking with Zarif and Iranian President Hasan Rouhani’s brother, Hossein Fereydoun, captured the moment. Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif was positive throughout the day.
Parliamentary elections in February are expected to serve as a referendum on public acceptance of Mr. Rouhani’s pursuit of better ties with the world.
Arash Ghahreman, convicted in 2015 of trying to export US-built marine navigation equipment to Iran, was also released, his attorney Ellis Johnston said on Sunday.
Tehran newspapers largely welcomed the implementation of the deal.
But after the nuclear talks moved to Vienna and dragged on, he made a decision to send the lead negotiator on the matter, Brett McGurk, and State Department aide Patrick Kennedy, to await the Americans’ arrival.
Mr. Obama campaigned for the White House in 2008 on a promise to engage with US enemies including Iran and Cuba.
An Idaho pastor, Saeed Abedini, and a businessman, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, were also among those released in the swap with the U.S. Another official with knowledge of the flight confirmed for the Free Press that Hekmati and Rezaian were on the plane to Germany, where they would undergo medical evaluations.
The deal also could affect Iran’s upcoming parliamentary election in February, further changing the balance of political power inside the country.
“As Iran has fulfilled its commitments, today, multilateral and national economic and financial sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear programme are lifted in accordance” with the July deal, Mogherini said in Vienna. Iran’s nuclear program will be subject to close IAEA inspections to assure ongoing compliance.
“It’s the first time, 37 years after Iran’s 1979 revolution, that Iran has succeeded in détente with the West, specifically with the USA, despite radical and hard-line opponents both inside Iran and America as well as the Israeli lobby and Saudi opposition”, Zibakalam said.
These are nevertheless likely to jump now that the United States, European Union and U.N. have scrapped the sanctions in return for Tehran complying with the deal to curb its nuclear ambitions – ambitions that Tehran says were peaceful.
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“All should prevent any domestic and foreign trivialities that thwart us”, he said.
