Iranian President Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech to parliament in the capital, Tehran, on January 17, 2016, after sanctions were lifted under Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers. (AFP/Atta Kenare)
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Sunday that the official implementation of the landmark nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers has satisfied all parties except Israel and hardliners in the US.
“In (implementing) the deal, all are happy except Zionists, warmongers, sowers of discord among Islamic nations and extremists in the US. The rest are happy,” Rouhani told the Iranian parliament in an address broadcast live on state television.
The deal, whose implementation was announced Saturday night, has “opened new windows for engagement with the world,” he added.Rouhani said the deal was a win for all negotiating parties and all factions inside Iran. “Nobody has been defeated in the deal — neither inside the country, nor the countries that were negotiating with us,” he said, referring to the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany.
“The friends of Iran are happy and its competitors need not worry. We are not a threat to any government or nation,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Rouhani as saying. “We are a messenger of peace, stability and security in the region and the world.”
Hours after the implementation was announced in Vienna, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that “even after signing the nuclear deal, Iran has not relinquished its ambition to obtain nuclear weapons, and continues to act to destabilize the Middle East and to spread terror throughout the world while violating its international commitments.”
Israel fought vociferously to prevent the accord, arguing it would not stop Tehran from developing an atomic weapon if it wished. Iran has denied seeking a nuclear bomb. Netanyahu has long called the deal a “historic mistake,” warning that it entrenches the Islamist regime in power, gives Iran tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief to fund terrorism and destabilize the region, and paves Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal in the long term.
In his address to parliament on Sunday, Rouhani said Iran should use the expected influx of money and investments to spark the “economic mutation” of the country, creating jobs and enhancing quality of life for Iranian citizens. Battered by the sanctions regime, Tehran has been suffering double-digit inflation and unemployment rates for years.
He also said 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.”
Rouhani said his country needs up to $50 billion in foreign investment per year to reach its goal of 8-percent annual growth.
For Iran, long out in the economic cold over its contested atomic program, implementing the nuclear deal will be a welcome thaw. More than $30 billion in assets overseas will become immediately available to the Islamic Republic. Official Iranian reports have set the total amount of frozen Iranian assets overseas at $100 billion.
“In (implementing) the deal, all are happy except Zionists, warmongers, sowers of discord among Islamic nations and extremists in the US. The rest are happy,” Rouhani told the Iranian parliament in an address broadcast live on state television.
The deal, whose implementation was announced Saturday night, has “opened new windows for engagement with the world,” he added.Rouhani said the deal was a win for all negotiating parties and all factions inside Iran. “Nobody has been defeated in the deal — neither inside the country, nor the countries that were negotiating with us,” he said, referring to the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany.
“The friends of Iran are happy and its competitors need not worry. We are not a threat to any government or nation,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Rouhani as saying. “We are a messenger of peace, stability and security in the region and the world.”
Hours after the implementation was announced in Vienna, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted that “even after signing the nuclear deal, Iran has not relinquished its ambition to obtain nuclear weapons, and continues to act to destabilize the Middle East and to spread terror throughout the world while violating its international commitments.”
Israel fought vociferously to prevent the accord, arguing it would not stop Tehran from developing an atomic weapon if it wished. Iran has denied seeking a nuclear bomb. Netanyahu has long called the deal a “historic mistake,” warning that it entrenches the Islamist regime in power, gives Iran tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief to fund terrorism and destabilize the region, and paves Iran’s path to a nuclear arsenal in the long term.
In his address to parliament on Sunday, Rouhani said Iran should use the expected influx of money and investments to spark the “economic mutation” of the country, creating jobs and enhancing quality of life for Iranian citizens. Battered by the sanctions regime, Tehran has been suffering double-digit inflation and unemployment rates for years.
He also said 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.”
Rouhani said his country needs up to $50 billion in foreign investment per year to reach its goal of 8-percent annual growth.
For Iran, long out in the economic cold over its contested atomic program, implementing the nuclear deal will be a welcome thaw. More than $30 billion in assets overseas will become immediately available to the Islamic Republic. Official Iranian reports have set the total amount of frozen Iranian assets overseas at $100 billion.
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