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World leaders lift economic sanctions imposed against Iran

“I am thrilled and relieved that Jason and these other Americans are no longer in prison”, said Jared Huffman, who represents Rezaian and has been involved in his case.

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Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Marc Crevoisier confirmed that the jet that touched down after dark Sunday was the one with the Americans on board. Most U.N. sanctions also automatically ended.

A plane carrying American prisoners released from Iranian detention as part of a prisoner swap deal between Tehran and Washington is “about to take off”, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told CNN.

Saboonchi had been convicted of unlawfully exporting goods to Iran in violation of worldwide sanctions and was serving a 2-year sentence.

The deal comes after more than a year of secret negotiations, the officials said.

“Even as we implement the nuclear deal and welcome our Americans home, we recognize that there remain profound differences between the USA and Iran”.

Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said the deal’s implementation marks “a new and unsafe time in which Iran is free of most economic sanctions without having to stop its nuclear plan and without having to give explanations about its military activity as it had to in the past”.

The announcement came the same day the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog announced Iran is in compliance with a July nuclear deal.

“Now is the moment to push for cooperation on other pressing challenges through dialogue which should continue to find a way for a safer future”, he said.

Ban was speaking in Dubai at the opening of an event about improving the delivery of global humanitarian aid.

The European Commission said it would undertake a first “technical assessment mission” in February to explore energy ties with Iran.

Gabriel plans to chair a meeting of a German-Iranian economic commission in Tehran in May.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is monitoring Iran and will report any violation of the nuclear agreement.

“Iran is still violating UN Security Council resolutions with its ballistic missile program, which should be met with new sanctions designations and firm resolve”, Clinton said. On Sunday he repeated his contention that the deal will strengthen and embolden Tehran, leading to greater regional instability. “Nobody has been defeated in the deal neither inside the country nor the countries that were negotiating with us”, he said, referring to the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany.

But in an address to parliament he noted bitter opposition to Saturday’s lifting of economic curbs from arch foe Israel, some members of the US Congress and what he called “warmongers” in the region – an apparent reference to some of Iran’s Gulf Arab adversaries. Whereas Tehran was expanding its nuclear program, we have now cut off every single path that Iran could have used to create a bomb.

With auto ownership at only 100 per 1,000 people – six times lower than in Europe – vehicle manufacturers are keen to engage. Already, some 38 million barrels of oil are in Iran’s floating reserves, ready to enter the market, according to the International Energy Agency.

Iran also separately budgets some $190 billion for hundreds of government banks and companies.

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IAEA chief Yukiya Amano will travel to Tehran on Sunday to meet Rouhani and the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, the IAEA said on Saturday. “We Iranians have reached out to the world… have opened a new chapter in the relations of Iran with the world”, the official IRNA news agency quoted Rouhani as saying.

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