Now while they might not sound as elaborate as the previous sanctions, it is definitely a blow for Mr. Rouhani and his government because Iran’s supreme leader, the man who is even more powerful than the president, has said on numerous occasions that after the nuclear deal, there should be no new sanctions whatsoever.
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Lifting the sanctions would unfreeze a huge amount of assets, around tens of billions of USA dollars, and allow Iranian oil to be sold internationally. “That was not tied to implementation day”.
The U.S. and European Union sanctions on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program have largely cut Iran out of the worldwide financial system during the past years.
Not all sanctions were ended.
The prisoner swap comes a day after worldwide inspectors concluded Tehran was in compliance with the deal governing its nuclear program.
Especially striking – a prisoner swap that came hours before the main event in Geneva. Jason is undergoing medical evaluation at the US military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany.
Recent diplomatic measures show relations are warming between the longtime foes, even as critics in the US say the move may hurt security.
The nuclear deal will also open up business in the 79-million-strong country.
But if the IAEA certifies earlier that the programme is peaceful then Iran could accelerate development of its nuclear facilities.
Obama welcomed the Americans’ release, saying: “When Americans are freed, that’s something we can all celebrate”.
In December, Iran shipped out 25,000 pounds of low-enriched uranium and dismantled more than 12,000 centrifuges, also part of the deal. “I remember the morning a year and a half ago when a scratchy cell phone call told me Jason and his wife had been taken from their apartment the night before”, said Doug Jehl, the newspaper’s foreign editor.
News agencies reported that Iran was releasing four American prisoners and the United States was releasing seven Iranians that had been held or charged in connection with sanctions violations.
The November anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran drew thousands of demonstrators, who burned American flags and hoisted signs denouncing McDonald’s and Starbucks.
The United States also agreed to drop charges against 14 other Iranians whose extradition to the United States seemed unlikely, a US official said. “He feels like he’s been starved of information for the last 18 months; having to live off of Iranian state TV and getting your news from there isn’t where you want to be as a reporter”.
Republican presidential candidates had slammed the Obama administration for striking the multinational nuclear deal with Iran while Americans were held captive.
“A convergence of factors explains it”, says Emile Hokayem, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
But he still faces intense domestic opposition from hard-liners who believe he has given away too much and fear Iran’s opening to the outside world leaves it exposed to corrupting foreign cultural influences.
“With Iran, there was an opportunity for a deal”.
But Kerry said the successful talks over prisoners and nuclear matters raise the prospects of more U.S.-Iranian cooperation on other matters. “Iran is a competent actor”.
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In Washington, President Barack Obama said the breakthrough was vindication of his contentious policy of engagement.
