And he defended a separate settlement at an global legal tribunal which will see the United States repay Iran $400m (£280m) in funds frozen since 1981 plus a further $1.3bn in interest – saying there was no point “dragging this out”.
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That came as part of a prisoner exchange as USA and European sanctions on the country were lifted in the deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
Iran ” s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said nuclear-related sanctions on his country would be lifted today, telling reporters in Vienna it “was a good day for the world”.
“Vigorously” enforce sanctions President Barack Obama said his government will “vigorously” enforce sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile program.
In his first comments since the agreement was implemented, Khamenei stressed in a letter to President Hassan Rouhani the need to “guard against deceit and violations of arrogant states particularly the United States”.
Obama said the process of securing deal strengthened what was basically a non-existent relationship between America and Iran – even allowing a pathway to work with the Iranian government to release 10 sailors who drifted into Iranian waters last week.
“We released seven terrorists who had helped Iran with their nuclear program, and we agreed not to prosecute another 14 terrorists for doing the same thing”, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said on Fox News Sunday.
The sanctions, which were ready to be announced for weeks, were only unveiled after a plane carrying three Americans released by Iran finally left Tehran on Sunday. With the International Atomic Energy Agency certifying that Iran had complied with its agreement to scale back its nuclear programme, Mr Obama signed an executive order lifting nuclear-related sanctions.
No names were immediately released in a statement from the judiciary outlining the decision, but among Iranian-American citizens in custody is Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post’s Tehran correspondent. If it is necessary, we will give a strong response.
“These things are a reminder of what we can achieve when we lead with strength and with wisdom”. “We remain steadfast in opposing Iran’s destabilizing behavior elsewhere”, he said.
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In a reciprocal move, Obama said that six Iranian-Americans and one Iranian serving sentences or awaiting trial were being granted clemency.
