Rouhani, who has made finalizing the nuclear deal the key issue of his presidency, also said that the agreement “does not harm any country”.
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Rouhani dismissed the criticism during his speech to the Iranian parliament. “We should use this atmosphere and these conditions for the sake of growth and development of our country, and for the sake of the welfare of the people, for the progress of our country, and also for the progress, stability, and security of the region”, Rouhani said.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said in a statement.
Though the president touted improved relations with Tehran, the U.S. Treasury announced earlier Sunday new sanctions as part of Iran’s ballistic missile program.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini hold a joint press conference during the E3/EU+3 and Iran talks at the International Atomic Energy Agency headquarters in Vienna on January 16, 2016.
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Public Security Minister, said that the implementation of the deal, contrary to Kerry’s claim, would endanger the Middle East and fail to halt Iran’s nuclear program.
The UN’s atomic watchdog late on Saturday confirmed that Iran had complied with its obligations under last summer’s accord and the United States and European Union announced they were lifting the sanctions that have for years crippled the country’s economy. It has kept its word.
In remarks shortly before the USA announcement, Iranian President Hassan Rohani said that any new American sanctions would be “met by an appropriate response”.
Under the agreement, in exchange for lifting sanctions, Iran is obliged to take steps to put it further away from developing a nuclear weapon while keeping a peaceful nuclear energy program.
A charter plane left Tehran for Switzerland with the Americans – all four who had been detained, according to Iran state television; only three, the US said – as part of a prisoner swap.
“Years of patient and persistent diplomacy, and hard technical work, have borne fruit as we now implement the deal”, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said.
In July, Iran and world powers reached the JCPOA, entrusting the IAEA with verifying and monitoring Tehran’s commitments under the nuclear deal.
The IAEA’s confirmation that Iran had fulfilled its commitments under the nuclear deal also automatically ended most United Nations sanctions on the country.
The Israeli leader contents that a nuclear Iran would pose an “existential threat” to Israel and has alluded in past years to a possible preemptive attack against Tehran.
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“Without an appropriate reaction to every violation, Iran will realise it can continue to develop nuclear weapons, destabilise the region and spread terror”, Netanyahu said.
