Sanctions against the Islamic Republic lifted after the International Atomic Energy Agency that Tehran had fulfilled its obligations under last year’s nuclear accord.
Sanctions against the Islamic Republic lifted after the International Atomic Energy Agency that Tehran had fulfilled its obligations under last year’s nuclear accord.
A final report by the International Atomic Energy Agency released late on Saturday triggered the much anticipated announcement of Implementation Day, which puts Iran on the brink of an extraordinary transformation, reconnecting it to the global economy.
'Today, I released a report confirming that Iran has completed the necessary preparatory steps to start the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. The report was submitted to the IAEA Board of Governors and to the United Nations Security Council,' IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said Saturday night.
He noted that it was issued after Agency inspectors on the ground verified that Iran has carried out all measures required under the JCPOA to enable Implementation Day to occur.
Amano went on to say that this paves the way for the IAEA to begin verifying and monitoring Iran’s nuclear-related commitments under the agreement, as requested by the U.N. Security Council and authorized by the IAEA Board.
After Amano’s announcement, Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, and the EU foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini released a joint statement in which they announced the implementation Day.
“Today we have achieved Implementation Day of the joint comprehensive plan of action,” Zarif, and Mogherini, said in a joint statement read at the UN in the Austrian capital in front of the world media.
“As Iran has fulfilled its commitments, today, multilateral and national economic and financial sanctions related to Iran's nuclear programme are lifted in accordance with the JCPOA,” the statement added.
For his part, the US secretary of state, John Kerry – who was also in Vienna, said the sanctions termination provisions of Iran’s landmark nuclear agreement were now in effect.
US President Barack Obama delegated authority to Kerry to make the determination. At the same time, all nuclear-related sanctions imposed by the EU and the UN were also lifted.
