Speaking to parliament earlier on Sunday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hailed the nuclear deal with world powers and the resulting lifting on Saturday of US, European and United Nations sanctions as a “golden page” in Iran’s history.
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Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Marc Crevoisier confirmed the plane had been carrying the three freed prisoners and said he believed they had already departed for Germany.
In a reciprocal move, Obama said that six Iranian-Americans and one Iranian serving sentences or awaiting trial were being granted clemency. He then spoke at length about the achievement of Implementation Day, saying, “Today marks the first day of a safer world… We have no further information to share at this time and would ask everyone respect the privacy of these individuals and their families”, the official told CNN.
The US State Department said in a statement that Secretary of State John Kerry was meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna on Saturday. “Congrats on this glorious victory!” “We are grateful that Pastor Abedini, Mr. Rezaian, and Mr. Hekmati are free, and I am honored to participate in this joyous delegation”.
On Saturday, four U.S. citizens who were imprisoned in Iran were released, while the United States released seven Iranians who remained prisoners in this country.
Naghmeh Abedini, the pastor’s wife, said on Twitter that she was hoping to talk with her husband in a few hours. “I am happy they are coming back, but it is a disgrace they have been there this long, a total disgrace”.
Mary Rezaian was in Tehran pressing for her son’s release.
Obama said talks between Washington and Tehran to secure the release of the Americans held in Iran “accelerated” after the nuclear deal. “You notice the Obama administration has announced the good news but hides the bad news”, Cruz told the cheering crowd, as he denounced the release of “seven people who were incarcerated for violating the sanctions on Iran and helping Iran obtain nuclear weapons”.
Iranian, dual citizens freed in U.S.
Since Jan. 1, the two diplomats have phoned each other at least 11 times on issues ranging from the nuclear deal to tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia to peace efforts in Syria. The budget plans for an economic windfall as global economic sanctions against Iran end as part of a landmark nuclear deal.
United by faith, these Christians in Des Moines are celebrating the release of a man they’ve never met.
“The administration led the charge, but it took a lot of members of Congress to be willing to stand with the administration as this negotiation has come to fruition”, he said.
Republicans, including some now running for president, have said both those deals reveal a fundamental weakness and naivete in Obama’s dealings with autocrats and terrorists. Trevithick, who is from Hingham, Massachusetts, co-founded a research center based in Turkey that assesses the humanitarian crisis in the area and traveled to Iran in September for a four-month language program. “His arrest and incarceration were devastating to his many friends and family”, the attorneys said. “We shouldn’t be involved in swaps”, he continued.
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Earlier on Sunday evening, senior U.S. diplomat Brett McGurk posted a picture of himself welcoming Rezaian as he got off the plane at Geneva airport. “And the fact that they can get away with it with this administration, I think, has created an incentive for more governments to do this around the world”, Rubio told reporters.
