TEHRAN // The Iranian president yesterday hailed the lifting of international sanctions on his country after last July’s nuclear deal with major powers went into effect.
Speaking in the parliament in comments broadcast live on state television, Hassan Rouhani said: “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.”
Iran took a step toward ending its international isolation on Saturday after the United Nation’s atomic watchdog confirmed Iran was carrying out measures agreed under the deal.
A strong supporter of the agreement, Mr Rouhani also sent out a celebratory tweet calling it a “glorious victory” while the speeches in Vienna, Austria, were still taking place.
“We Iranians have reached out to the world in a sign of friendliness, and leaving behind the enmities, suspicions and plots, have opened a new chapter in the relations of Iran with the world,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him.
“The implementation of the JCPOA is not a loss for any country,” Mr Rouhani said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the official name for Tehran’s nuclear agreement with the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia.
“The friends of Iran are happy and its competitors need not worry, we are not a threat to any government or nation.
“We are a messenger of peace, stability and security in the region and the world.”
* Agencies