PHOTO: European Union’s Federica Mogherini and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announce implementation of nuclear deal

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UPDATE 1745 GMT: The Central Bank of Iran has announced that the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) has removed Iranian banks from their list of sanctioned institutions.

“Iranian banks will be reconnected to SWIFT without discrimination and the main obstacle on the way of Iranian banks’ international links are going to be removed,” the CBI said.

Iran’s financial outlets were blocked from SWIFT in March 2012 as the European Union tightened sanctions on Tehran. The ban sharply curtained Iran’s international financial transactions.

UPDATE 1745 GMT: In brief remarks, President Obama has hailed the Iran nuclear deal as proof that a “smart, patient and disciplined” approach to the world can yield better results than war:

We have a rare chance to pursue a new path — a different, better future that delivers progress for both our people and the wider world. That’s the opportunity for the Iranian people. We need to take advantage of that.

However, Obama said that “there remain profound differences between the United States and Iran” and that he would “remain steadfast” in opposing Iran’s threat to Israel, its support of terrorism, and its intervention through proxies in Yemen and Syria.

UPDATE 1600 GMT: With the implementation of the nuclear deal confirmed, the Obama Administration has imposed new sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile tests.

The announcement was prepared several weeks ago. US officials announced in late December that they were to be imposed, but the Administration quickly withdrew when Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the step could jeopardize the prisoner swap that was confirmed on Saturday (see below).

The Treasury Department said it was targeting for sanctions “11 entities and individuals involved in procurement on behalf of Iran’s ballistic missile program” and “five Iranian individuals who have worked to procure ballistic missile components for Iran”.

UPDATE 1410 GMT: President Rouhani also used his press conference to throw a punch in the regime in-fighting before February’s elections for Parliament and the Assembly of Experts.

While attention has been focused on the nuclear deal this weekend, reports have circulated that the Guardian Council has carried out a mass disqualification of reformist candidates.

The President, who has challenged the Council’s power to ban candidates, responded today, “Looks like we need a P5+1-style talks [the nuclear discussions with the 5+1 Powers] with some here inside the country, too”.

UPDATE 1310 GMT: Addressing a press conference, President Rouhani has declared an “exceptional and historic day” with the implementation of the nuclear deal: “Today, we have reached a turning point.”

Claiming proof that Iran is a “great power” through its diplomacy, Rouhani looked to an immediate boost for the economy. He said more than “1000 letters of credit [were] opened in different foreign banks” in a few hours for trade and investment: “Hopefully we will have at least 5% economic growth in the next year.”

The President also assured that, irrespective of which party and candidate wins the White House in November’s election, “the current commitments of US will not change [and the deal] will remain in place”.

Rouhani then turned to regional issues and condemnation of Saudi Arabia, which broke relations with Iran earlier this month. He cited the Saudi failure to apologize after the deaths of thousands of people, including more than 500 Iranians, in a pilgrimage near Mecca last September and Riyadh’s execution of a prominent Shia cleric on January 2.

Saudi Arabia has started to go down a wrong path. We hope that it will return to the path which is in the interest of society.

UPDATE 1130 GMT: Reuters reveals that the US delayed the imposition of new sanctions on Iran at the start of January because they would have jeopardized the prisoner swap.

US officials had told the media on December 30 that the sanctions would be imposed over Iran’s testing of ballistic missiles. Tehran reacted angrily, with President Rouhani ordered the Defense Ministry to expedite the tests.

By the evening of December 31, the Obama Administration had retreated from the sanctions. At the time, observers believed that the withdrawal was to remove any threat to the implementation of the nuclear deal.

However, US officials now tell Reuters that the delay came after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif — notified by US Secretary of State John Kerry on December 29 of the intended sanctions — said the prisoner swap would be jeopardized.

Kerry and other top advisors to President Obama, who was vacationing in Hawaii, concluded after conference calls that they could not risk the months-long discussions for the swap. An official said Obama approved the decision to delay the sanctions.

UPDATE 1030 GMT: The lawyer of freed journalist Jason Rezaian has said that Rezaian, his wife and fellow reporter Yeganeh Salehi, and the other released US detainees are now outside Iran.

A “senior Iranian official” denied the report, “None of the four Americans, including Jason Rezaian, have left Iran yet and when it happens it will be announced officially.”

However, it was eventually confirmed that Rezaian, Pastor Saeed Abedini, and former US Marine Amir Hekmati are en route to Switzerland and then to a US airbase in Germany. The fourth released detained, Nosratollah Khosravi — about whom still nothing is known — has remained in Iran.

UPDATE 0800 GMT: The Rouhani Government has moved quickly to take political and economic advantage of the nuclear deal’s implementation, submitting its 2016-17 budget and the 2016-2020 Development Plan to Parliament.

The Government had delayed submission of the budget — dependent on increased revenues which are envisaged with the lifting of sanctions — for months until the agreement’s progress was confirmed.

President Rouhani told the Parliamentary session tht the deal brings a “new atmosphere and new conditions” which must be used “in favor of the country’s growth and development and for the welfare of people as well as progress, stability and security of the region”.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: The international community confirmed the implementation of the July 2015 nuclear deal with Iran on Saturday, as five American detainees were released by Tehran anid a prisoner swap with the US.

“Implementation Day” begins the lifting of US and European sanctions which have crippled the Iranian economy. The restrictions have frozen an estimated $100 billion of Iran’s assets, reduced its oil exports by 40%, cut financial transactions, and limited investment and trade.

The announcement in Vienna of implementation, following a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, as arrangements were completed for the release of the detainees in a swap which had been negotiated alongside the nuclear agreement since late 2014.

The identities of four of the five Americans were confirmed:

*Jason Rezaian, the Washington Post correspondent in Tehran, held since July 2014 on charges of espionage;

*Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor, detained in summer 2012 for private religous meetings and given an eight-year sentence in January 2013;

*Amir Hekmati, a former US Marine, seized in August 2011, initially sentenced to death for espionage for January 2012, and subsequently given a 10-year term;

*Matthew Trevithick, a staff member for universities and NGOs who was studying Farsi in Tehran when he was detained in December 2015

The identity of the fifth American is still shrouded in confusion. Initially, Iranian State media said he was Siamak Namazi, one of two US businessmen arrested last autumn, but State news agency IRNA later apologized for a mistaken report. American officials said they were still working to free Namazi, an executive for a UAE-based oil company.

Meanwhile, Iranian media said the freed man was “Nosratollah Khosravi”, the first time that name has been publicly circulated.

The US released seven Iranians, convicted or indicted on charges of fraud, sanctions evasion, and/or hacking. Another 14 Iranians were taken off Interpol’s wanted list.

The Obama Administration removed 400 Iranians and others from the sanctions list and took steps to lift selected restrictions. Another 200 people remain on the list on the grounds of human rights violations, “terrorist” activities, or involvement in Iran’s ballistic missile program.

“A Strong and Fair Deal”

The “Implementation Day” announcement, after more than a decade of tension and negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, was delayed for hours as the prisoner swap unfolded.

Finally, IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano issued a video statement heralding the Islamic Republic’s compliance with terms such as the shipment of almost all its enriched uranium outside the country; a 70% reduction in uranium centrifuges; re-design of a nuclear reactor; and Iran’s adherence to the Additional Protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the European Union’s Federica Mogherini then issued a statement and held a joint conference proclaiming implementation and celebrating a “strong and fair” deal.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who conferred with Zarif throughout the day, declared a victory in restricting Iran’s nuclear program while “expanding the horizon of opportunity” for Iranians:

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani, who postponed a speech on State TV as negotiations were completed on Saturday night, claimed the triumph for Tehran:

Rouhani said in a statement to the Iranian people, “Cruel resolutions against the Iranian nation has been terminated… Iran’s nuclear rights were established and the country’s economy has been reconnected to the global economy.”