“The United States today is ceasing the application of its nuclear-related statutory sanctions on Iran”, said European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, reading the joint statement. He did not elaborate. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that Tehran wants expanded economic ties with Britain in the wake of the lifting of the sanctions on the Islamic Republic, APA reports quoting Press TV.
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After more than 30 years, oil and financial sanctions against Iran were lifted over the weekend after worldwide inspectors determined that the nation had met its goals and disassembled large portions of its nuclear program.
The US had launched the sanctions on Sunday amid worries that Iran’s ballistic missile program would be used to carry atomic warheads.
Still, said Ansari, “The U.S. sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile program… have no legal or moral legitimacy”.
Five Iranian individuals and a number of companies based in China and the United Arab Emirates were added to the US blacklist as part of the new sanctions, according to the US Treasury. “The United States also removed any Interpol red notices and dismissed any charges against 14 Iranians for whom it was assessed that extradition requests were unlikely to be successful”.
A fifth American, Matthew Trevithick, was also released by Iran, though his release was not part of the negotiated prisoner swap.
However, the implementation of the prisoner exchange was followed closely by the US announcement of the new sanctions. Costa applauded Secretary of State John Kerry’s diplomacy with Iran and likened it to the improvement in US-Soviet Relations in the 1980’S, but said it’s just a first step.
Belarus supports the efforts of Iran and the worldwide mediators to lift the sanctions imposed on the Islamic State of Iran and create a favorable global environment, the ministry said.
“Even if a day comes when there is no NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty), safeguard or inspection by the IAEA, Iran is morally and religiously committed not to seek weapons of mass destruction”, Rouhani said.
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Rezaian was one of four American prisoners released over the weekend, the result of top-secret talks between Iran and the USA that had been ongoing for more than a year.
