Republican candidates for the United States presidency have criticised the deal, and some Iranian officials fear Washington could walk away from the deal when President Barack Obama leaves office in early 2017. “As Secretary Kerry has noted many times, we are working very hard to get our citizens back home, and we call again on Iran to release them”. The economic sanctions imposed are supposed to prevent those involved in the Iranian missiles program from using the USA banking system, but is being protested on grounds of unfairness.
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Lake concluded by quoting Obama’s comments to young Iranians on Sunday, when the president said, “We have a rare chance to pursue a new path – a different, better future that delivers progress for both our peoples and the wider world”.
A prisoner exchange took place between the U.S. and Iran the same day, but no sooner than the plane carrying released prisoners had left the tarmac in Iran, the U.S. Department of Treasury slapped new sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile testing last fall, breaking the spirit of the agreement with Iran. Doug Jehl, the Post’s foreign editor, said last fall that it seemed like “Jason is not really a prisoner, he’s a bargaining chip being used by the Iranian government to extract some concessions from the U.S”.
Iran denounced new economic sanctions imposed by the United States over its ballistic missile program as “illegitimate” and without “legal or moral legitimacy”.
Meanwhile, a handful of individuals have benefitted most directly from the deal. “If Americans take action in other areas other than nuclear, they will receive the appropriate response”, Hassan Rouhani said. “We remain steadfast in opposing Iran’s destabilizing behavior elsewhere” he said.
Mr Fabius, who said he would visit Riyadh today to meet King Salman and other officials, said France would like to de-escalate tensions between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton responded to Iran’s release of five Americans by saying that Iran deserves no thanks and is still violating UN Security Council resolutions with its ballistic missile program. On Tuesday, the Iranian military detained 10 U.S. sailors on two small Navy vessels that had crossed into Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf, prompting critics of closer U.S.-Iran ties to accuse Iran of aggression.
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New U.S. sanctions over Iran’s ballistic missile testing are an example of an American “addiction to coercion” despite improved relations and a historic nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said in an interview Wednesday.
