Rezaian and two other Iranian-Americans arrived in Germany after leaving Tehran on Sunday in a prisoner swap following the lifting of most worldwide sanctions on Iran under last year’s landmark nuclear accord.
Advertisement
The US and Iranian presidents hailed the implementation of Tehran’s nuclear deal as historic, even as new American sanctions threatened fresh tensions.
The latest sanctions won’t affect development and “we will show this in practice by revealing new missile achievements”, Iran’s Defense Minister General Hossein Dehghan said according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
With the sanctions announcement, Obama also sought to counter criticism from GOP lawmakers and presidential candidates that his actions had appeased a nation that has aided the spread of Islamic extremism.
Naghmeh Abedini, the wife of the Idaho pastor, said in a Facebook post on Sunday that Mr. Obama called her after her husband was flown out of Iran. “Our enemies now know that if you can capture an American, you can get something meaningful in exchange for it”.
“Jason expressed hope that he can see us both in person tomorrow, and he looks forward to seeing everyone at The Post very soon”, the newspaper said, quoting Rezaian as saying: “I hear there’s going to be a big party”.
Five Iranian nationals and a network of companies based in the United Arab Emirates and China were added to an American blacklist, the US Treasury announced.
Democratic lawmakers who supported the agreement applauded the sanctions announced Sunday. A copy of the proposed sanction leaked three weeks ago, and the Obama administration pulled it back – perhaps to avoid torpedoing the prisoner swap and the completion of the nuclear deal. Iran also agreed to work to locate American Robert Levinson, who vanished during a trip to Iran in 2007.
“They’re civilians, and their release is a one-time gesture to Iran given the unique opportunity offered by this moment and the larger circumstances at play”, Obama said.
The funds were part of a trust fund once used by Iran to purchase military equipment from the United States but which was tied up for decades in litigation at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal.
“Iran is the greatest state sponsor of terror in the world”, Pletka said.
The White House said its lawyers assessed that the USA could have faced a “significantly higher judgment” if the case continued. The U.S. trade embargo remains in place, but the government will permit certain limited business activities with Iran, such as selling or purchasing Iranian food and carpets and U.S. commercial aircraft and parts.
The end of sanctions means more money and prestige for Shia Iran as it becomes deeply embroiled in the sectarian conflicts of the Middle East, notably in the Syrian civil war where its allies are facing Sunni Muslim rebels.
Advertisement
Amano met Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation, and was to hold talks with President Hassan Rouhani to discuss monitoring and verifying Iran’s commitments under the agreement.
