President Hassan Rouhani called on everyone to contribute to the country's progress by shifting focus to development from sanctions that were officially removed after the July 14 nuclear deal went into effect on Saturday.
"It is time for transition from sanctions to development through hard work, creative planning and investment, and everybody, especially the youth, should help exploit this new opportunity," Rouhani said in a statement on Sunday.
The statements followed the Implementation Day of the deal between Iran and P5+1 (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany), which put sanctions relief in place in return for time-bound curbs on Tehran's nuclear program.
Rouhani said the deal, formally titled the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, has opened a new chapter in Iran's relations with the world and "Iranians extend a hand of friendship" to the international community, IRNA reported. The president stressed that despite the removal of sanctions, the country is still determined to follow "Resistance Economy," a set of principles outlined by Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei aimed at boosting the domestic economy and weaning it off oil money.
Seeking to allay the concerns of a few countries that view the JCPOA with suspicion, he said the implementation of the action plan would not hurt any country. "Iran's friends are happy. Its rivals should not be worried. We pose no threat to any government or nation. While standing prepared to protect our national interests, we favor peace, stability and security in the world," he said. Later in the day, Rouhani talked with reporters in a press conference in Tehran.
"We need to equip ourselves with high-tech equipment. We need to increase non-oil exports by finding new markets for our products," he said.
He said the JCPOA has proved that even the most challenging differences can be effectively settled if all parties commit themselves to a "win-win" approach.
"The Iranian nation demonstrated that constructive interaction is the right way" to engage with the world, the president added.
IAEA Confirms Compliance
A report by the UN nuclear chief, Yukiya Amano, verifying Iran's compliance with its obligations under the accord, was the last step required to declare the Implementation Day.
The commitments included disconnecting two-thirds of the total 19,000 centrifuges at the Fordo and Natanz enrichment facilities, shipping out amounts of low-enriched uranium exceeding 300 kg and redesigning the Arak heavy reactor by removing its core and filling it with concrete.
The UN Security Council and the IAEA's governing board were the recipients of Amano's report, which automatically terminated seven previous UN resolutions against Iran. The European Union immediately began the process of lifting its sanctions, allowing European citizens and companies to resume trade with Iran in oil, gas and petrochemicals, and deal with its atomic energy body as well as its transport and financial sectors.
US President Barack Obama signed an executive order to suspend US nuclear-related sanctions.
Obama determined that Iran's implementation of the pact "marks a fundamental shift in circumstances with respect to Iran's nuclear program," he wrote in the order, released by the White House.
Below is Amano's statement, posted on his agency's website:
Today, I released a report confirming that Iran has completed the necessary preparatory steps to start the implementation of the JCPOA. The report was submitted to the IAEA board of governors and to the United Nations Security Council.
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. This paves the way for the IAEA to begin verifying and monitoring Iran's nuclear-related commitments under the agreement, as requested by the UN Security Council and authorized by the IAEA board.
Relations between Iran and the IAEA now enter a new phase. It is an important day for the international community. In line with its commitments, Iran will start to provisionally implement the Additional Protocol to its Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA. Together with other nuclear-related measures under the JCPOA, this increases the agency’s ability to monitor nuclear activities in Iran and to verify that they are peaceful.
Affirmative Message
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, read out the following statement announcing the Implementation Day:
Today, we have reached Implementation Day of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Ever since Adoption Day, we worked hard and showed mutual commitment and collective will to finally bring the JCPOA to implementation. Today, six months after finalization of the historic deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran has implemented its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA.
As Iran has fulfilled its commitments today, multilateral and national economic and financial sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program are lifted in accordance with the JCPOA. The EU and E3+3 countries … will also cooperate in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, in the framework of the JCPOA.
UN sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program are lifted. United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015), which endorsed the JCPOA, will from now onwards, together with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, be the sole international legal framework related to Iran's nuclear activities, terminating provisions of resolutions 1696 (2006), 1737 (2007), 1747 (2007), 1803 (2008), 1835 (2008), 1929 (2010) and 2224 (2015).
The EU has confirmed that the legal framework providing for the lifting of its nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions is effective. The United States today is ceasing the application of its nuclear-related statutory sanctions on Iran, including terminating relevant Executive Orders and licensing of certain activities, as specified in the JCPOA.
As foreseen, we will continue to thoroughly monitor and oversee the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA, exactly as agreed on 14 July 2015, through the Joint Commission, consisting of the E3+3 and Iran, and coordinated by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
On its side, the IAEA is entrusted with the responsibility for the monitoring and verification of the JCPOA as well as of Iran's obligations as a party to Non-Proliferation Treaty and its safeguards agreement and the provisional application of its Additional Protocol.
This achievement clearly 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. This is an encouraging and strong message that the international community must keep in mind in our efforts to make the world a safer place.
Auspicious Milestone
US Secretary of State John Kerry made the following statement, which was posted on the website of the US State Department:
This evening, we are really reminded once again of diplomacy's power to tackle significant challenges. And thanks to years of hard work and committed dialogue, we have made vital breakthroughs related to both the nuclear negotiation and a separate long-term diplomatic effort.
We have also reached a critical and auspicious milestone on the nuclear issue as well. Today, more than four years after I first traveled to Oman at the request of President Obama to discreetly explore whether the kind of nuclear talks that we ultimately entered into with Iran were even possible, after more than two and a half years of intense multilateral negotiations, the IAEA has now verified that Iran has honored its commitments to [temporarily curb] its nuclear program in compliance with the agreement that we reached last July.
To get to this point, Iran has undertaken significant steps that many people doubted would ever come to pass. And that should be recognized, even though the full measure of this achievement can only be realized by assuring continued full compliance in the coming years.
In return for the steps that Iran has taken, the United States and the EU will immediately lift nuclear-related sanctions, expanding the horizon of opportunity for the Iranian people. And I have even tonight, before coming over here, signed a number of documents over those sanctions that the State Department has jurisdiction over in order to effect that lifting. In the words of the agreement itself, today–January 16, 2016–we have reached Implementation Day. Today marks the moment that the Iran nuclear agreement transitions from an ambitious set of promises on paper to measurable action in progress.
We welcome that Iran has followed through on the promises that it made. It has kept its word. And we will continue to do the same. But we will also remain vigilant in verifying Iran's compliance every hour of every day in the years ahead.
Now, I emphasize: Today's announcement gives us even more hope, more confidence in the possibilities about this effort going forward. Thus far, Iran has taken every step that it committed to take, dating back two full years–not just back to July—but dating back to the interim agreement that we announced in Geneva, in Switzerland.
Kerry Praises Iran Delegation
I want to again express my deep respect for the serious and constructive approach that Iran's delegation brought to this effort.
Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and his team from day one demonstrated their deep commitment and seriousness of purpose, and Dr. Ali [Akbar] Salehi [the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran] has worked diligently with Secretary [of Energy] Moniz to find creative solutions to difficult technical challenges. And we've been able to approach every step of this process with professionalism and mutual respect.
The hard work will continue, no question. And the tough politics surrounding this issue in many countries, including the United States and Iran–that's obviously not going to get easier overnight. I think we have also proven once again why diplomacy has to always be our first choice and war our last resort. And that is a very important lesson to reinforce.
We have approached this challenge with the firm belief that exhausting diplomacy before choosing war is an imperative. And we believe that today marks the benefits of that choice.
