IAEA Certifies Iranian Compliance; Sanctions Lifted
January 16, 2016

Since 1979, the United States and Iran have been on the brink of war with each other. For the first time in 36 years, we are taking steps toward, at the very least, peaceful co-existence with each other.

This is a huge day for world peace and nuclear non-proliferation. Sanctions against Iran are lifted after international inspectors confirmed Iran's compliance with the negotiated agreement.

International inspectors confirmed Saturday that Iran had dismantled large sections of its nuclear program, as agreed in a historic accord last summer, paving the way for the lifting of oil and financial sanctions by the United States and other world powers.

The announcement came just hours after Iran said it had released four Americans, including The Washington Post reporter, Jason Rezaian, as part of a prisoner swap with the United States. American officials said the two deals were negotiated separately, but Secretary of State John Kerry had made it clear in recent weeks that he was engaged in behind-the-scenes talks on the fate of the Americans, and clearly wanted the issue cleared up before the nuclear agreement went into effect.

In a statement, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, said that “agency inspectors on the ground verified that Iran has carried out all measures required under the JCPOA, to enable implementation day to occur,” using the acronym for the accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

In recent weeks, Iran has shipped 98 percent of its nuclear fuel out of the country, destroyed the innards of a major plutonium-producing reactor and mothballed more than 12,000 of the centrifuges that enrich uranium.

In the coming days, you're going to hear a lot of spin about how this isn't really as good as it is. Don't listen. Haters are going to hate, especially when they've got nothing close to President Obama's record for international relations.

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