Rouhani says his first visit to Europe since the nuclear accord was signed has proven that there are “great possibilities” for economic, academic, scientific and cultural cooperation and that “today we are in a win-win situation” after years of mutual losses due to sanctions.
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From Implementation Day on January 16, when the International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran has curbed its nuclear program enough to begin receiving sanctions relief, through Tuesday the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) has published more than 10 stories related to Iran.
In addition to the lifting of sanctions, Bombardier will be allowed to export to Tehran, which comes after Iran announced over the weekend that it would purchase more than 160 European planes, primarily from Airbus. The administration of former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper severed diplomatic ties with Iran in September 2012, citing, among other pretexts, what it described as continued threats from Iran to its ally, Israel.
In a further twist, IranAir is locked out of a dedicated global financial system for air tickets because it is based on laws of Canada, which has not lifted sanctions on Iran.
The recent two years have been “the time of missed opportunities” for both Russian Federation and Canada, Lavrov said. We believe the sanctions are illegal. “As Barack Obama and John Kerry cozy up to the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, your tax dollars are being handed over to a murderous dictator who chants, ‘Death to America'”.
Along with IAEA’s announcement, Iran can now reclaim about $100bn in frozen overseas assets, with a crippling ban on oil exports also to be loosened.
Under the terms of the contract which is expected to be signed within the upcoming hours, Airbus will be committed to deliver the aircraft to Iran as soon as possible.
“It’s not good for the strategic interests in the region, it’s not good for Israel”, Dion said.
“All our G7 [Group of 7] partners are re-engaging and we are not”, he said. New deals are already being signed, including some with Germany’s biggest companies and others with Italian firms.
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Iran’s human rights record, including hundreds of executions, adds another note of caution for France which presses for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.
“Much of the economic boost from sanctions relief is likely to be consumed internally by the Rouhani government, the political-economic elite, and to some extent the Iranian people”, RAND Corporation Iran expert Alireza Nader wrote back in July.
Iran was producing an average of 3.7 million barrels of crude a day in 2011, before the start of USA and European Union sanctions that limited the country’s ability to export oil and prevented it from importing the latest Western technology and equipment.
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Paris also wants to draw Tehran into a role as peacemaker in a Middle East that is fraught with civil war in Syria, where Iran has played an active role in support of President Bashar Assad, and in Yemen.
