In a statement, he added: “We have come a long way since the IAEA first started considering the Iran nuclear issue in 2003”.
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“Today is a good day”, Obama said in a White House address to the nation after key aspects of a nuclear deal were implemented and United States prisoners were released from Tehran.
“We urge all parties to continue to fulfil their obligations under the JCPOA and call on Iran to continue its cooperation with the IAEA”.
“On 16 January 2016, the Council lifted all nuclear-related economic and financial EU sanctions against Iran”, the EU Council announced.
President Barack Obama pardoned three Iranian-Americans charged for violating sanctions against Iran, a lawyer for one of the men said, while prosecutors moved to drop charges against four Iranians outside the United States.
The president said the United States still had significant differences with Iran and would continue to enforce sanctions against its ballistic missile programme.
Obama said that relationship was essential to freeing American sailors taken captive by Iran last week when US officials said they accidentally sailed into Iranians waters.
“It is also important to note that, other than certain limited exceptions provided for in the JCPOA, the USA embargo broadly remains in place, meaning that US persons, including US banks, will still be prohibited from virtually all dealings with Iranian entities”. “Over 400 individuals and entities were removed from the SDN list by the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), but about 200 Iranian or Iran-related individuals and entities will remain on the list”, he said. The Democratic presidential frontrunner also drew distinctions between the nuclear program and other Iranian initiatives, though she also characterized the parallel negotiations as “mutually reinforcing”.
The July 14 deal, struck after decades of hostility, defused the likelihood of US or Israeli military action against Iran while creating an opening for future cooperation on calming the tumultuous Middle East. But proof that it had been fully implemented had been lacking until Saturday. The action had originally been planned for December 30, as Secretary of State John Kerry was negotiating the prisoner trade that secured the release of five Americans from Iran this weekend.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday hailed the lifting of sanctions against his country, calling it a victory for the nation.
Since the deal was signed, however, there have been a series of legal cases in Iran targeting poets, filmmakers, artists, activists and journalists, which analysts attribute to hard-liners’ continuing struggle with moderates.
With sanctions lifted, Iran plans to swiftly ramp up its exports of oil.
Iran denies its nuclear program was aimed at obtaining an atomic bomb.
The declaration was followed by announcements that key economic sanctions against Tehran would be lifted.
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The swap was widely condemned by Republicans Sunday, including the leading presidential hopefuls, who said the released Iranians would only strengthen Tehran’s weapons programs and endanger the west.
