Iran’s top leader on Tuesday called for vigilance in ensuring that world powers meet their commitments under a newly implemented nuclear deal while expressing “pessimism” about US intentions, state media reported.
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The United States and Iran concluded months of secret negotiations and struck a prisoner-swap deal.
U.S.-Iranian relations took a welcome step forward with the release of North Bay native and Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and four other Iranian-Americans, all of whom had been held prisoner in Iran on dubious charges. He is also heartened by the lifting of sanctions on Iran.
“They’re civilians, and their release is a one-time gesture to Iran given the unique opportunity offered by this moment and the larger circumstances at play”, he said.
“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.
About resolving the three-decade old financial dispute with Iran, Obama said Tehran would be “returned its own funds, including appropriate interest, but much less than the amount Iran sought”.
Many people doubted that Iran would ever comply, and the Obama administration’s decision to impose some new sanctions this week after Iran tested long-range missiles in violation of a United Nations ban is a reminder that dealing with Tehran remains a challenge.
A U.S. Treasury official said Iran’s ballistic missile programme poses “a significant threat to regional and global security”.
On Sunday, the US Treasury Department sanctioned 11 entities and individuals, including six Iranians and one Chinese citizen, over their involvement in procurement on behalf of Iran’s ballistic missile program.
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Aside from this, the U.S.is unfreezing Iranian assets, estimated at between $100-$150 billion, as part of the nuclear deal.
