US administration officials confirmed the news Saturday following reports first published in Iranian media.
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As part of the prisoner swap, the U.S. offered clemency to seven Iranians, six of whom are dual U.S.-Iranian citizens, who had been convicted or were awaiting trial in the U.S., said the official.
Also on Saturday, US President Barack Obama signed an executive order to lift sanctions on Iran related to its nuclear programme.
An image grab taken from footage broadcast on the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network last October reportedly shows missile launchers in an underground tunnel at an unknown location in Iran.
Several Americans have been released from Iran, but their journey is far from over. The United States lifted a raft of sanctions, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying in Vienna: “The United States, our friends and allies in the Middle East, and the entire world are safer because the threat of the nuclear eapon has been reduced”.
Obama said the settlement between the USA and Iran at The Hague would save U.S. money.
“This is a good day”, the president said.
“The nuclear deal is an opportunity that we should use to develop the country, improve the welfare of the nation, and create stability and security in the region”, Rouhani said.
Economic sanctions imposed on Iran because of its support for terrorism and violations of human rights will remain in place. “Today will prove that we can solve important problems through diplomacy”, he said.
The three arrived on a flight at Ramstein Air Base and were scheduled to undergo medical checkups at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, a USA military hospital.
The two countries had prolonged negotiations for the exchange as they also crafted an agreement announced last summer to restrict Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions. In November, he was sentenced to more than 15 months in prison.
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Earlier, Rouhani in his letter to Khamenei, which was published January 18, provided details on the recent implementation of the nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, and briefed him on achievements on the deal. Most of this money is sitting in China, India, Japan, South Korea and Turkey.
