“The US sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile programme… have no legal or moral legitimacy”, foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said in a televised news conference. US President Barack Obama defended the settlement in a televised statement from the White House, saying it was for “much less than the amount Iran sought”.
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As part of the swap, Obama granted clemency to seven Iranians indicted or imprisoned violating US sanctions against Iran, which he described Sunday as “a one-time gesture to Iran, given the unique opportunity offered by this moment and the larger circumstances at play”.
The UN’s atomic watchdog late on Saturday confirmed that Iran had complied with its obligations under last summer’s accord and the United States and European Union announced they were lifting the sanctions that have for years crippled the country’s economy.
Obama says the USA will continue to search for Robert Levinson, a US citizen long missing in Iran.
The Americans who were released in the prisoner exchange include Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian; Amir Hekmati, a former Marine from Arizona; Saeed Abedini, an ex-Muslim convert to Christianity; Nosratollah Khosravi- Roodsari; and an American student, Matthew Trevithick. “We remain steadfast in opposing Iran’s destabilising behaviour elsewhere, including its threats against Israel and our Gulf partners, and its support for violent proxies in places like Syria and Yemen”, he said.
Iran’s president Hassan Rouhani has moved the Islamic Republic closer to the West in foreign policy terms since his election in 2013.
“The global community must impose severe and clear sanctions against any violation (by Iran)”.
Obama said the USA would strictly enforce new sanctions directed at curbing Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East but added “we have a rare chance to pursue a new path”.
In this context, the US President also referred to the recent missile tests carried out by Iran.
The new sanctions over Iran’s ballistic missiles program were delayed by two weeks in order to not endanger negotiations over Saturday’s prisoner swap deal.
“Relations between Iran and the IAEA now enter a new phase”, said IAEA director general Yukiya Amano.
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The Obama Administration reportedly made a decision to withhold sanctions against Iran over ballistic missile testing on fears that it would damage their ability to negotiate a prisoner exchange. An administration official said, without elaborating, that detained U.S. citizens had been released and those who wished to depart Iran had left.
