Obama, Rouhani hail diplomacy as Americans fly home
President Barack Obama heralds his administration’s multichannel diplomacy with Iran for freeing detained Americans and implementing the nuclear deal and says there is an "opportunity" to pursue a new path with Iran.
The presidents of Iran and the United States on Jan. 17 celebrated a mutual diplomatic victory that accomplishes key goals for both governments — long-term limitations on Iran’s ability to make a nuclear weapon in return for the Islamic Republic’s re-entry into the global marketplace.
Both Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani were careful not to claim an end to US-Iran differences over issues ranging from Iran’s intervention in regional conflicts to its treatment of domestic opponents. But the sense of mutual accomplishment was striking in their remarks, which appeared timed to allow audiences in both the United States and Iran to watch them in tandem.
Rouhani, speaking first at a press conference in Tehran, declared, “Today is the beginning of a new era, a new chapter [for Iran] with the region and the world.”
He listed the benefits of sanctions removal for Iran’s trade and investment, its oil and gas exports and banking, including the fact that 1,000 letters of credit were opened for Iranian banks just one day after the nuclear deal went into full force.
