The United
States has announced new sanctions on Iranian companies and individuals linked
to Iran’s ballistic missile program.The move comes a
day after Washington and the EU lifted sanctions related to Tehran's nuclear
program.
This picture
released by the official website of the Iranian Defense Ministry on Sunday,
Oct. 11, 2015, claims to show the launching of an Emad long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile in an undisclosed location.
Iran successfully test
fired a new guided long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile, state TV
reported after the launch. It was the first such a test since Iran and world powers
reach a historical nuclear deal. Iran's Defense Minister Gen. Hossein Dehghan,
told the channel that the liquid-fuel missile "will obviously boost the
strategic deterrence capability of our armed forces." (Iranian Defense
Ministry via AP)
Sanctions were
imposed against five Iranian nationals and a network of companies based in the
United Arab Emirates and China, the U.S. Treasury Department announced in a
statement. UN experts said in
a December report that Tehran’s firing of a medium-range ballistic missile in
October violated sanctions that ban Iran from launches capable of delivering
nuclear weapons.
Adam J. Szubin,
acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said that
"Iran's ballistic missile program poses a significant threat to regional
and global security, and it will continue to be subject to international
sanctions."
The Reuters news
agency reports that, according to officials familiar with the matter, U.S.
President Barack Obama delayed the sanctions for more than two weeks during
tense negotiations to free five American prisoners.
U.S. President
Barack Obama has since praised the release of the five Americans who had been
held in Iran and the full implementation of the historic nuclear deal with
Tehran.
"This is a
good day," Obama said in a statement from the White House on January
17.
Speaking about
the new sanctions imposed on Iran, Obama said the United States would continue
to enforce sanctions against Iran’s ballistic missile program.
"We will
continue to enforce these sanctions vigorously," Obama said.
In remarks
shortly before the U.S. announcement, Iranian President Hassan Rohani said that
any new American sanctions would be "met by an appropriate response."
Earlier in the
day Iranian President Hassan Rohani hailed the lifting of international
sanctions on his country, saying a nuclear deal with world powers opened
"new windows" for Tehran's engagement with the world.
Rohani told
parliament on January 17 that the deal was also a "turning point"
point for Iran's economy, adding that the energy-rich country needed to be less
reliant on oil revenues.
Secretary of
State John Kerry announced on January 17 that the United States and Iran had
also settled a longstanding dispute over $400 million dating back to before the
1979 Islamic Revolution and the end of diplomatic ties.
The U.S. will
repay Iran a $400 million debt and $1.3 billion in interest.
The money was
part of a trust fund that was once used by Iran to buy military equipment from
the United States and is separate from the tens of billions of dollars in
frozen foreign accounts that Iran can now access.
On January 16,
the UN nuclear watchdog announced that Iran has kept its nuclear promises under
the agreement reached in July, triggering the end of sanctions.
The announcement
set off a rapid process of lifting international sanctions against Iran. The
European Union said it has "lifted all economic and financial sanctions
against Iran related to the nuclear program."
Washington
formally lifted banking, steel, shipping, and other sanctions on Iran.
Iran also
announced the release of four Americans including Washington Post reporter
Jason Rezaian as part of a prisoner swap with the United States.
A fifth
prisoner, the American student Matthew Trevithick, was released separately.
Rohani said on
January 17 that "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."
He said Iran
should use the expected influx of money and investments to spark the
"economic mutation" of the country, which has been suffering
double-digit inflation and unemployment rates for years.
Iran needs up to
$50 billion in foreign investment per year to reach its goal of eight-percent
annual growth, Rohani said.
With
international sanctions lifted, more than $30 billion in assets overseas will
become immediately available to Iran.
Official Iranian
reports put the total amount of frozen Iranian assets overseas at nearly $100
billion.
According to the
International Energy Agency, some 38 million barrels of oil are already in
Iran's floating reserves, ready to enter the market.
As he presented
a draft budget for the next fiscal year to parliament, Rohani said the deal was
an opportunity for Iran's economy to cut its "umbilical cord" to oil
while prices were low.
But despite oil
prices falling below $30, Iran intends to increase production after the nuclear
deal.
The country is
expected to increase its daily export of 1.1 million barrels of crude oil by
500,000 shortly, and a further 500,000 in the longer run.
The $75 billion
budget had been ready for weeks, but Rohani decided not to present it until the
nuclear deal was implemented because it was based on sanctions being lifted.
Rohani also
pointed out that Iran now needs political tranquility to best benefit from the
new economic reality.
"All should
prevent any domestic and foreign trivialities that thwart us," he said.
"Any irrelevant and diverting dispute is against national
expedience."
Rohani said
Iran's nuclear deal signed in July in Vienna with the United States, Britain,
France, Russia, China, and Germany was a win for all negotiating parties and
all factions inside Iran.
The Vienna
agreement was reached after two years of negotiations following Rohani's
election.
With reporting
by AP, Reuters, AFP, dpa, and the BBC
Copyright (c)
2015. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio
Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.