Republican presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz welcomed the release of five Americans detained in Iran, but said the prisoner swap deal that made it possible sets a “dangerous precedent”.
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What does all this mean for Iranians anxious to restore connections between the US and Iran?
A USA official said the Obama administration wanted to test whether there could be additional cooperation or constructive dialogue between the United States and Iran.
Dehqan said the ballistic missile sanctions show the U.S.is “hostile” toward Iran and he pledged to unveil new missile developments soon.
Rezaian, 39, the Post’s Tehran bureau chief, was arrested in Iran in July 2014 and sentenced last November to a prison term.
Brett McGurk, a special US presidential envoy tweeted a photo of Jason Rezaian after the American journalist landed in Geneva following his release by Iran.
Reports quoted insiders as saying that negotiations in December over the prisoner exchange delayed the imposition of the latest sanctions on Iran.
During his speech, the president also said that a fifth US citizen student, Matthew Trevithick, imprisoned by Iran was released as well separately Saturday.
Iran said new American curbs on its ballistic missile programme were illegitimate, vowing to continue developing its conventional military deterrent.
Iran is a country of vast poverty, executions, and scant rights for women, said Manoucherh Ganji, a Californian and former education minister for the Shah of Iran who lectures on conditions in Iran.
Tehran decried new United States sanctions on Monday, just days after the confirmation of its historical nuclear deal with world powers.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry also said that the country would not negotiate with the US on other issues, while sanctions introduced by the Washington, which Iran called “propaganda measures”, would be met with a firm response.
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International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano announced Saturday that Iran completed necessary preparatory steps to start implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
