U.S., EU remove sanctions on Iran

VIENNA – The U.N. nuclear agency certified Saturday that Iran has met all of its commitments under last summer’s landmark nuclear deal, crowning years of U.S.-led efforts to crimp Iran’s ability to make atomic weapons. For Iran, the move lifts Western economic sanctions that have been in place for years, unlocking access to $100 billion in frozen assets and unleashing new opportunities for its battered economy.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the top diplomats of Iran and the European Union hailed the accord, reached after years of setbacks and a full decade after the start of international diplomacy aimed at reducing the possibility that Tehran could turn its nuclear programs to weapons making.

“Today marks the first day of a safer world,” Kerry declared in Vienna. “This evening, we are really reminded once again of diplomacy’s power to tackle significant challenges.”

Additionally, Kerry linked the trust built between Iran and the United States over the past two years of talks to the release by Iran on Saturday of four Americans who also hold Iranian nationality.

“Thanks to years of hard work and committed dialogue,” he said, “we have made vital breakthroughs related to both the nuclear negotiations and a separate long-term diplomatic effort” that led to the freeing of the Americans.

EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini – in a statement also read in Farsi by Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jawad Zarif – said the accord “demonstrates that with political will, perseverance, and through multilateral diplomacy, we can solve the most difficult issues and find practical solutions that are effectively implemented.”

In Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama signed executive orders lifting economic sanctions on Iran, while Kerry confirmed the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency could verify “Iran has fully implemented its required commitments.”

The July 14 deal, struck after decades of hostility, defused the likelihood of U.S. 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.

For Tehran, the report translates into a huge financial windfall while also helping its efforts at international image rehabilitation.

Beyond sanctions lifting and the unlocking of frozen assets, certification by the IAEA opens the path to new oil, trade and financial opportunities that could prove far more valuable for Tehran in the long run.

Not even waiting for the IAEA report, Iranian Transport Minister Abbas Akhondi said his country had reached a deal with the European consortium Airbus to buy 114 passenger planes once the sanctions are lifted.

As diplomatic maneuvering on the nuclear issue dragged into the night, another source of U.S.-Iranian tension moved toward resolution with officials of both nations announcing the prisoner releases. The four Americans imprisoned in Iran were exchanged for seven Iranians held or charged in the United States.

U.S. officials said the four – Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, pastor Saeed Abedini and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari – were to be flown from Iran to Switzerland on a Swiss plane and then brought to a U.S. military hospital in Landstuhl, Germany, for medical treatment.

Among the sanctions lifted will be those imposed from 2006 to 2010 by the U.N. Security Council as it attempted to pressure the Islamic Republic to curb uranium enrichment and other activities that could also be used for nuclear weapons. Iran sees that move and the recent closure of a decadelong investigation of whether it worked on such weapons as a formal end to the allegations against it.

But the deal is also a boon for the White House. U.S. President Barack Obama’s greatest foreign policy triumph has turned tensions into a first step toward cooperation with Iran, a major regional power instrumental for ending the Syrian conflict and other Middle East crises.

The July deal with six world powers puts Iran’s various nuclear activities under IAEA watch for up to 15 years, with an option to reimpose sanctions should Tehran break its commitments.

It aims to increase the time Iran would need to make enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon from several months to a year, primarily by capping Tehran’s ability to enrich uranium, which can create material ranging from reactor fuel to warhead material. Under the deal, Iran committed to reduce its operating centrifuges enriching uranium by two-thirds, to just over 5,000 machines.

The IAEA report, obtained by the Associated Press, ticked off that commitment and others as met.