Iran Sanctions Lifted As Nuclear Deal Implemented, US Hostages Freed
#ImplementationDay--I thank God for this blessing & bow to the greatness of the patient nation of Iran. Congrats on this glorious victory!
— Hassan Rouhani (@HassanRouhani) January 16, 2016
U.S. + EU will begin lifting nuclear-related sanctions, expanding the horizon of opportunity for the Iranian people.
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) January 16, 2016
Today marks the moment the #IranDeal has transitioned from ambitious promises on paper to measurable actions in practice.
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) January 16, 2016
We're getting to #ImplementationDay. Nothing serious. Diplomacy requires patience, but we all know that it sure beats the alternatives.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 16, 2016
Just days after two US Navy boats and ten sailors were seized at Farsi Island ahead of President Obama's state-of-the-union address and just days before Tehran will see international sanctions lifted as part of the "historic" nuclear accord, four US hostages have been freed in a prisoner swap between Washington and Tehran.
Among the detainees is Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian who was famously held for spying after being convicted in a shadowy trial last year and faced up to 20 years in an Iranian prison.
According to FARS, Iran also freed Marine veteran Amir Hekmati and Christian pastor Saeed Abedini, who had been held on a variety of charges.
"All four are duel U.S.-Iranian citizens, according to the semiofficial Mehr and Fars news agencies," WaPo notes, adding that "news of the exchange came as world leaders converged [in Vienna] on Saturday in anticipation of the end of international sanctions against Iran in exchange for significantly curtailing its nuclear program."
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif was brimming with optimism when he arrived [in Vienna] earlier in the day and met with Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief," WaPo says.
“This is a good day for the Iranian people . . . and for the world,” Zarif proclaimed. “What is going to happen today is proof . . . that major problems in the world could be tackled through dialogue, not threats, pressures and sanctions.”
"International sanctions on Iran will be lifted on Saturday when the United Nations nuclear agency declares Tehran has complied with an agreement to scale back its nuclear program," Reuters writes, adding that "'implementation day' of the nuclear deal agreed last year marks the biggest re-entry of a former pariah state onto the global economic stage since the end of the Cold War, and a turning point in the hostility between Iran and the United States that has shaped the Middle East since 1979."
The IAEA is reportedly set to issue a report that confirms Iran has complied with its commitments under the agreement struck last summer. That report will trigger the lifting of sanctions and the return of Iran to the world stage. A joint statement is expected later today.
This comes as US lawmakers push for fresh sanctions on Tehran in connection with two ballistic missile tests the Iranians carried out in October and November, and just weeks after an "incident" in the Strait of Hormuz saw the IRGC conduct a live-fire rocket test within 1,500 yards of a US aircraft carrier.
The deal has ruffled more than a few feathers in Riyadh, where the P5+1 agreement has stoked fears that America's rapprochement with the Iranians marks a shift in US Mid-East policy that could endanger the regional balance of power at a time when relations between the Sunni and Shiite powers have deteriorated markedly. As an aside, Zarif is trolling the Saudis on Twitter as we speak:
#ImplementationDay, it’s now time for all—especially Muslim nations—to join hands and rid the world of violent extremism. Iran is ready.
— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) January 16, 2016
Summing up Saturday's proceedings in Vienna:
* * *
From FARS
"Based on an approval of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) and the general interests of the Islamic Republic, four Iranian prisoners with dual-nationality were freed today within the framework of a prisoner swap deal," the office of Tehran prosecutor said.
Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmat, Saeed Abedini and a fourth American-Iranian national who were jailed in Iran on various charges in recent years have all been released.
According o the swap deal, the US has also freed 6 Iranian-Americans who were held for sanctions-related charges..
A senior Iranian legislator citing an IRGC report on Rezaian's case said in October that he has been imprisoned for his attempts to help the US Senate to advance its regime change plots in Iran.
In late July 2014, Iran confirmed that four journalists, including Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian, had been arrested and were being held for questioning.
Rezaian's wife Yeganeh Salehi, a correspondent for the United Arab Emirates-based newspaper, the National, was also arrested at that time, but she and two others were released later.
According to the Constitution, the Judiciary is independent from the government in Iran.
Some reports earlier this year had spoken of a potential prisoner swap between Iran and US following the Vienna nuclear deal in July.
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"Hostages"? Is Jonathan Pollard a "hostage"? You need to check yourselves, "Tyler"s. You hate Obama so much you embarrass yourself here, as Iran is the only area Obama has gotten it right. Your new Saudi friends will be happy to have you tied down and do to you as they do to their goats, before having you beheaded for not showing sufficient pleasure.
The people who run Iran are a bunch of dirty cunts-- just as bad as the ones running Saudi Arabia. By switching sides, 0bama is trading one sack of shit for another-- that ain't exactly "getting it right". Plus, by flipping the chessboard over, he has further destabilized the Middle East-- which is quite remarkable given that after seven years of ruination it is hard to believe he could make things even worse there. But 0bama finds a way!
You're right about the thugs who run things, but culturally, Iran is far more tractable than KSA. There's a lingering memory there that they weren't always under the thumb of Islam. Persian culture runs much deeper and the people genuinely want closer ties with the West.
Yours is wishfull thinking. The wisps of memory known as the "Persian Culture" is what remains. of that culture,when the National and Cultural Identies of Persia were conquered by Islam.
Persia, Indonesia are the largest and most visible beacons of what happens to Cultureal Identities when they conquered by Islam, - both the political Islam and the alleged Religious Islam. Persia si gone, never to resurrect itself unless Islam is banished from this earth.
nwo schmuck
Eat an uncut dick.
nwo: I seriously doubt that you've ever been to Iran/persia... otherwise you wouldn't make such hyperbolic statements.
40 years of Islamic fundamentalist dictatorship has NOT erased millinia of persian culture... get a clue.
Obama is a cultural Islamist. He has lived his formative years in an Islamic culture. He cannot be anything else but a cultural Islamist.
The only question that counts at all is:
What currency is Iranian oil going to be sold in, and for how long ?
If you don't believe there's a secret agreement about that, I have a nice bridge in Brooklyn for
sale.
exactly this ^^. but I will also add that India has just made a deal with Iran and they will be using Rupees.
WC - Very interesting point you make here...
I'm curious - do you believe the US/West has struck a deal w/ Iran to transact in $USD (petrodollars)? Or are you implying that Iran is 'playing' the US/West and will soon sell their oil for gold/rubles/rial ?
No sarcasm here... I'm genuinely interested in your theory here.
So... The story we get in the media about Iran is mostly neocon nonsense.
This was no different
https://theintercept.com/2016/01/13/us-media-condemns-irans-aggression-i...
https://theintercept.com/2016/01/15/the-u-s-radically-changes-its-story-...
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2016/01/14/caught-with-our-pants-down...
See 2nd link, in particular.
How many remember the attempt to start a shooting war with iran in 2007?
http://youtu.be/VeEMySFLoXg
Or the fact that Cheney considered a false flag to start a war with iran?
http://youtu.be/jZM7ppkVCT8
Then there was the laptop of death - a clumsy forgery...
Iran isnt the threat - the neocons are the threat.
Indeed, the neocons are America's Fifth Column.
What is a "neocon"?
i've noticed the new meme is the iranian revolutionary guard as some cult like organization when it is the equivalent of the us marines. the marines can be a little wacko. are they a cult, too?
the zionazis will never quit until they are dead.
I love how the story went from "inadvertently drifted" to "inadvertently strayed" for how the boats got into Iranian waters. Like so many events in which the "facts" are quietly changed after initial reports, Americans won't even raise an eyebrow. Certain phrases, like "inadvertently drifted" are repeated for days by every mainstream media outlet in order to shape public opinion. When the official version of events is revised, it's not mentioned nearly as much.
Americans apparently enjoy bending over and taking it right in the ol' memory hole.
Memory retention for 90% of Americans is six weeks.
If that.
What?
I read that yesterday, but couldn't remember if it was 80% or 90%.
I'll remember you said that.
Its called "trickle truth". Women use it all the time when they know their partner will learn information that will upset them.
They learned from Benghazi not to go full tilt on one big lie . . .when it goes sour, it's tough to cover. Their new MO is to "leak" various narratives, unconfirmed of course, and see which one is the easiest for MSM to run with.
The navy "commander" apologizing to the camera, something is wrong. He and his mates were under no duress (the LT can be seen grinning in some screen shots; sailors are conversing casually while nibbling fruit, and also smiling.
If he made that statement of his own volition, then he should be court martialed. His crew would not have allowed it. My crew would not have allowed me to do that, they would fucking mutiny.
He was told to do as the rag heads say, and don't worry you'll be home soon. Just play along.
And I'm still waiting for an explanation for the passports. Yup, whenever I flew a sortie in that part of the world, me and my crew always carried our passports. It's horseshit.
Make NO mistake, we're talking about, perps without borders... At this point in history, they're all complicite.
Paging Putin? I'm interested, to hear his take on the deal?
With the Ruble being at historic lows, and the relationship Russia has with Iran?
All through the narrative regarding Iran, never once did the WAPO mention some cogent historical facts - like the USUK driven overthrow of the Iranian government on August 19, 1953 to placate the British-Iranian Oil Company (now BP) who did not like the energy extraction contracts put forth by the Iranians at that time.
Of course, the historical lesson here - the consequeces of interference in another country's internal affairs so as to extract resources at a better price has not been, shall we say, fully appreciated. Note the NYTimes describes the operation as a "success."
'SEVEN THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW THE U.S. AND ITS ALLIES DID TO IRAN
It’s hard for some Americans to understand why the Obama administration is so determined to come to an agreement with Iran on its nuclear capability, given that huge Iranian rallies are constantly chanting “Death to America!” I know the chanting makes me unhappy, since I’m part of America, and I strongly oppose me dying.
But if you know our actual history with Iran, you can kind of see where they’re coming from. They have understandable reasons to be angry at and frightened of us — things we’ve done that if, say, Norway had done them to us, would have us out in the streets shouting “Death to Norway!” Unfortunately, not only have the U.S. and our allies done horrendous things to Iran, we’re not even polite enough to remember it.
Reminding ourselves of this history does not mean endorsing an Iran with nuclear-tipped ICBMs. It does mean realizing how absurd it sounds when critics of the proposed agreement say it suddenly makes the U.S. the weaker party or that we’re getting a bad deal because Iran, as Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham put it, does not fear Obama enough. It’s exactly the opposite: This is the best agreement the U.S. could get because for the first time in 35 years, U.S.-Iranian relations aren’t being driven purely by fear.'
...
https://theintercept.com/2015/04/07/10-things-didnt-know-weve-done-iran/
CYCLE, Excellent point. Most Americans don't know much history before Novemer 4th 1979 (Iran Hostage Crisis) Americans don't know why the Irainian students took hostages.
So many years of propaganda spewed by the likes of sean hannity, "wipe Isreal off the face of the map" comment. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDKMR7mJERU
Dick Cheney, his understanding of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty www.politifact.com/punditfact/statement/2015/sep/03/dick-cheney-slips-ke...
wtf! another article excluding the any mention of the parasite nation that has threatened iran continuously for more than 20 years. they will not escape the reality that iran is the rightful power fulcrum in the mideast.
we may still have to nuke israel for peace in the middle east because you know the israelis will not stand for a policy that subjugates its self importance under another regional nation. fuck israel.
Iran is not BAD....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr2ZERIFL4U
Good to see Pastor Abedini freed he was only over there trying to walk in Jesus' footsteps and help those who have no one else to stand up for them. Something good came out of this mess at least.
Iran has economic agreements with Russia and China.There's no longer any need for American Dollars in Iran,they can easily sell in Rubles or Yuan.Russia for years has been doing extensive oil refining for Iran with pipelines going into Russia.Just get the money out of NY and dump the tower in downtown Manhatten at high real estate prices.Iran will be big selling to India and China and can deal in other currencies,that's what others want in order to provide liquidity to their local currencies.Gold is always the safer and better alternative to the U.S. Dollar.It's the inverse and it's also an international currency.Sanctions don't work,there are always work arounds from competition to avoid the NeoCon policemen who are the guardians of Washington's banks.You can bet that when commodity prices pick up in the distant future that American Companies will have more difficulty working in Iran because they'll live under the threat of having their assets taken over with Iran having nothing in America.If the U.S. brings down more sanctions with American companies working there,they'll forfit everything because it's a different non SWIFT system.Russia recently changed their laws to seize western assets for violations committed against Russia.I see many European and American corporate assets disappearing in order to make up for Russian losses,it'll really hurt down the road.Exxon and BP will take the hit on some of the biggest reserves in the world on Russia's north shore.Bigger than Saudi Arabia they claim.
before sanctions japan and iran agreed to swap yen for oil and were iran's biggest customer(they have the cleanest oil). i wonder if they have usa permission to swap yen for oil now or did the usa make dollars for oil part of the deal.
Everything you say is true.
However, the sanctions were just a ploy to force Iran back into the petro dollar scheme.
It was never about nuke weapons, something Iran already had after aquiring them during the breakup
of the Soviets.Power generation was always Irans problem, thats why Russia does their refining.
That said, whatever secret conditional agreement on the currency of future oil sales is unlikely
to stand for long.Why would they honor it ?
The first payment for the upgraded S-300 system has been made.
https://z5h64q92x9.net/proxy_u/ru-en.en/tvzvezda.ru/news/vstrane_i_mire/...
Russia and Iran want Iran to be able to defend itself. The US - probably not, as it clear there are strong political, military and probably bankster intrerests who are against Iran surviving as an independent state.
That argues for stronger more lasting Russia - Iran ties that West - Iran ties.
USA released 6 sanction offenders in return
Anybody remember a POTUS named Carter, an Iranian Hostage crisis, or release of said hostages on the day Carter left office?
It would have been good to see this kind of "fuck you" again, but the evidence points out, that Obama truly is their "friend".
Here's an interesting article from 4-9-2014:
https://consortiumnews.com/2014/04/09/reagan-bush-ties-to-iran-hostage-c...
Kind of interesting to see the name of Ted Cruz pop up in it.
I don't understand your point, bt. Apparently there was a back door deal made by the Bush Regan team with Tehran that extended the hostage return for political reasons, which translates into someone getting paid or some reciprocity. The fact that hostages hang in the balance is pretty sick.
Not sure what evidence you are referring to or why. You do bring up an interesting and still debated event in the history of American-Iranian tragedy.
Thanks for the response (and link, I'll look into it).
This is not something I've researched, but just pulled out of the memery of my youth. My point was, that in a real "pissing contest" between "national rulers" there are usually some real "fuck you" gestures that are made, as in the release of the Carter Hostages. These gestures have been seriously lacking in the Obama Administration's "deals" w/Iran, to the point of blatant acquiescence.
IRAN releases US hostages.
What, am I in some kind of time warp?
You are mixing up hostages with SAVAK accomplices.
You know the Zionists have to love this.
Iran has nuke power now, so now they have the option to fabricate any truth they want...may slow the flow of Jews back to Israel, or make them think a bit more, but that will be a distant threat when you've got migrants at your door coming after you.
Not sure about the 'back to Israel' line. Ashkenazis come from Khazaria- they no more belong in Palestine than Obama belongs on Uranus....errr...wait - not the best metaphor!
caption should read, as always:
pull my finger
bullish on Iran
I like how everyone is saying that the US is "giving" Iran $150B. It was their money to start with so what's this "giving" business?
Just like Libya has about $33B held in US banks. When will this be released? 30 years from now?
Its like if the mob shakes down a small construction biz doing 1.5 m a year in jersey...
In that sense the mob is 'giving' the biz money it wouldhave been making anyway in the sense of not using violence against the biz for no valid reason at all.
Turdy, Mission Accomplished, who do they release it to now?
Well, I didn't see this coming. How long will it take to Obama to find a microphone and extend his State of the Soviet Union speech to include this new success?
Think about it. If it were not for the Riverine Boat capture, it may have happened JUST IN TIME for the SOTU!
http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2016/01/set-up-obama-coordinated-ir...
Looks like Robert Levinson is dead