US President Barack Obama has signed an executive order lifting US economic sanctions on Iran, the White House announced.
The White House made the announcement on Saturday, after US Secretary of State John Kerry issued a statement confirming the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verified that Iran “has fully implemented its required commitments.”
The executive order finds that Iran’s compliance with the Vienna nuclear agreement “marks a fundamental shift in circumstances with respect to Iran’s nuclear program.”
Earlier in the day, UN and EU officials announced that Iran completed the necessary steps in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and announced to remove international economic sanctions against Iran, imposed against the Islamic Republic based on unfounded accusations over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.
Iran and the P5+1 – the United States, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany – finalized the text of the JCPOA in Vienna, Austria, on July 14, 2015.
Under the agreement, limits are put on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for, among other things, the removal of all nuclear-related economic and financial bans against the Islamic Republic.
US officials have for years accused Iran of using its nuclear energy program for non-civilian purposes, claims that have never been verified despite an exhaustive and unprecedented inspection regime.
House speaker slams lifting of sanctions
Meanwhile, Paul Ryan, speaker of the US Republican-dominated House of Representatives, on Saturday denounced the Iran nuclear agreement and lifting of US sanctions against Tehran.
