“This is a good day because, once again, we’re seeing what’s possible with strong American diplomacy”, Obama said at the White House. “We’ve seen the results”.
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The International Atomic Energy Agency announced in a statement on Saturday that Iran has complied with its obligations in accordance with the nuclear agreement signed in July past year. This has lifted the sanctions and Iran’s economy will now open up. Companies in the United Arab Emirates and China also were involved.
“I reiterate the need to be vigilant about the deceit and treachery of arrogant countries, especially the United States, in this (nuclear) issue and other issues”, Khamenei said. Meanwhile, Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, tried to co-opt hardliners’ closeness to Iran’s supreme leader by crediting him for the perceived successes of the nuclear deal. Among the those returning to the USA were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who had been charged with espionage and three other serious crimes, including “collaborating with hostile governments” and “propaganda against the establishment”. The student, identified as Matthew Trevithick, was detained 40 days after traveling to Iran in September as part of a four-month language program.
Mr Rouhani pledged that the lifting of sanctions will give a major boost to Iran’s economy in 2016.
Media reports indicate that swap was nearly scuttled when one prisoner’s wife and mother were kept away from US officials on the ground. The president also announced that the two nations had reached a settlement on a financial dispute dating back to the 1980s that would save the U.S.”billions of dollars”.
“We talked about future cooperation, especially in the new atmosphere, and we partially drew the roadmap” for continued efforts, state television quoted Mr Salehi as saying after the talks.
Obama said that, despite the prisoner swap and the implementation of the nuclear deal, “there are profound differences” between the two countries.
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“Switzerland has always supported the process to negotiate and implement the agreement” it said adding that the cabinet “is confident that implementation of the nuclear agreement and the lifting of global sanctions will enable political and economic exchanges with Iran to be intensified”.
