The other Americans released were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, whose name had not been previously made public, according to the Associated Press. But Obama and other senior USA officials have said they repeatedly demanded that Iran free the Americans.
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Jason Rezaian with his wife, Yeganeh Salehi; mother, Mary Rezaian; and brother, Ali Rezaian.
President Barack Obama on Sunday heralded the release of Americans held prisoner in Iran and the full implementation of a historic nuclear accord with the Islamic Republic, holding both up as a victory for “smart” diplomacy and fulfillment of his pledge to deal directly with enemies of the United States.
“We went through a period of time while they were located and ultimately reunited with Jason, and now all is well that ends well”.
Saudi-Iranian political rivalry has aggravated tumult across West Asia, but has escalated recently as Riyadh’s new rulers have taken a harder line and as the nuclear deal has relieved pressure on Tehran. “We will see the opening of a new chapter in ties between Iran and the IAEA”, he added.
Rezaian was among the four jailed Americans released by Iran over the weekend in exchange for USA prosecutors pardoning or dropping cases against 21 Iranians.
“The agreement provides for the simultaneous lifting or suspension of a large portion of the global sanctions against Iran in return for IAEA-verified restrictions to Iran’s nuclear programme”, the cabinet noted.
The deal leaves American citizen Siamak Namazi, who was arrested in October, in prison.
The Treasury said it was imposing penalties against a network of six companies based in the UAE and China, as well as five Iranian individuals. The student, identified as Matthew Trevithick, was detained 40 days after traveling to Iran in September as part of a four-month language program.
“That’s 21 terrorists helping Iran develop nuclear weapons that they intend to use to try to murder us”. Washington also offered no response to an Iranian navy rocket fired near a USA warship in the Strait of Hormuz.
“We still have sanctions on Iran for its violations of human rights, for its support of terrorism, and for its ballistic missile program”, President Obama said Sunday.
“After the nuclear deal was completed, the discussions between our governments accelerated”.
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They include slashing by two-thirds its uranium centrifuges, reducing its stockpile of uranium – enough before the deal for several bombs – and removing the core of its Arak reactor, which could have given Iran weapons-grade plutonium.
