After nearly constant conversation over the last few days, they finally did settle it.
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Rubio also responded to the Obama administration’s deal.
Rezaian’s family said in a statement that his release “has brought indescribable relief and joy to our family – this nightmare is approaching an end”.
Rouhani said the deal has “opened new windows for engagement with the world”.
The US imposed sanctions on 11 companies and individuals for supplying Iran’s ballistic missile programme in a move delayed by over two weeks so as not to endanger this weekend’s release of American prisoners, sources familiar with the matter said. A fifth American was released separately. The funds were part of a trust fund once used by Iran to purchase military equipment from the United States, which was tied up for decades in litigation at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in The Hague. We have now been officially told that he is on a plance leaving the country.
“We released seven terrorists who had helped Iran with their nuclear program, and we agreed not to prosecute another 14 terrorists for doing the same thing”.
In an internal memo to Post staff, Executive Editor Martin Baron and Foreign Editor Douglas Jehl said they had spoken briefly by telephone with Rezaian, who was being evaluated at a US military hospital in Germany.
Since the deal was signed, however, there have been a series of legal cases in Iran targeting poets, filmmakers, artists, activists and journalists, which analysts attribute to hard-liners’ continuing struggle with moderates.
Many local Iranian-Americans who gathered in Westwood said they were encouraged by the deal.
The Washington Post reported, “As worldwide sanctions on Iran were lifted in exchange for ‘the verified disabling of much of [Iran’s] nuclear infrastructure, ‘ Secretary of State John Kerry declared the beginning of a ‘safer world.'” The very next day, he issued a statement describing a direct payment from the United States to the Iranian government, of $1.7 billion.
Rezaian’s wife and mother are also both on the plane.
Four Americans were freed as part of a prisoner exchange, but USA officials said earlier that only three were on this flight.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was an outspoken critic of the deal, making veiled threats to attack Iran and arguing against the agreement in a speech to the U.S. Congress past year over White House objections.
“The U.S. stuck to its guns”, he added. “We need to activate the private sector and involve it in investment to achieve economic growth” Rouhani said. Rezaian was one of four dual-nationality detainees released from prison in Iran as part of a prisoner swap on Saturday. The list shrank to seven – all people charged with violating sanctions set to be lifted under the nuclear agreement anyway. This week proved them wrong again, as the International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran has complied with all of its obligations under the new nuclear deal that was struck six months ago. He said everyone is happy “except Zionists, warmongers fueling discord in the Islamic world, and hardliners in the U.S”.
“Friends and colleagues at The Washington Post are elated by the wonderful news that Jason Rezaian has been released from Evin Prison and has safely left the country with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi”. Global sanctions, particularly those by the US-led West, accelerated from mid-2012, and the mismanagement of the Iranian economy, especially under the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, imperiled Iran’s economic situation savagely.
The ADL also urged “strong US pushback” on human rights violations, Iran’s regional expansionism and further missile development, which it said exemplified “ongoing militarism”. But it was believed that not all of the Americans had left Iran.
“For the United States, the settlement could save us billions of dollars that could have been pursued by Iran”.
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The implementation of the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was the culmination of almost two years of intense negotiations.
