The nuclear agreement and the release of the American prisoners were negotiated separately to ensure that the detainees were not used as leverage, US officials said.
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ERDBRINK: Well, I would say that – I would think that a lot of people would probably be a bit cynical as well because in the end, it were in the United States and Europe and the United Nations that they placed these sanctions on Iran.
Huffman said the freed prisoners are expected to be transported to a US military hospital in Germany for medical evaluation.
Obama said Iran has a vibrant culture that has so much to contribute to the world in commerce, science and the arts, but “your government’s threats and actions to destabilize your region have isolated Iran from much of the world”. Ultimately, that did not advance America’s interests. “If they try to build a bomb covertly, we will catch them”, he said.
“From Presidents Franklin Roosevelt to John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan, the United States has never been afraid to pursue diplomacy with our adversaries” he said. “This would not possible unless we all unite with each other”.
For a decade the sanctions, imposed in condemnation of Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, had crippled the country’s economy.
“They don’t talk about it. They have been talking only about releasing a few political prisoners”. Apparently there was a bit of a hold-up in their departure.
We will continue to bring you updates as we are able.
HORSLEY: We first got word that these prisoners had been released early yesterday.
An incident involving US Navy sailors and Iran that could have ended badly ended well and led to further good news.
And that took a long time. They were sailing between Kuwait and Bahrain in the Persian Gulf on a training mission when they were detained by Iran.
A plane carrying American citizens who were imprisoned in Iran has left Tehran as part of a prisoner swap which has seen the release of several Iranians from U.S. jails. But the various administrative holdups meant that the Swiss crew set to fly the plane ran into a mandatory crew rest. The pro-reform Shargh daily, allocated part of its front page to pictures of Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini with the headline: “Now, without sanctions”.
Western sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program were lifted after the United Nations nuclear agency certified Saturday that Tehran had met all of its commitments under last year’s landmark agreement with world powers.
MARTIN: Thomas Erdbrink of The New York Times speaking to us from Tehran. These were sanctions that had been hinted at a couple of weeks ago and then withdrawn by the administration. And we now know that the administration held off announcing these new sanctions until this very delicate prisoner swap had been achieved.
The U.N Security Council has removed an Iranian bank and its worldwide branches from its sanctions list.
Iran on Sunday called on worldwide entrepreneurs to participate in its economy after the comprehensive deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme officially took effect on Saturday. No more will we to go to bed every night while worrying about the worsening situation.
“Even as we implement the nuclear deal and welcome our Americans home, we recognize that there remain profound differences between the United States and Iran”.
If the Obama administration had not sought a diplomatic solution to its disagreements with Iran it is likely that the soldiers would still be there.
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In the wake of this weekend’s prisoner exchange with Iran, a Twitter hashtag supporting Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian underwent a jubilant change: #FreeJason became #JasonIsFree.
