Japan will lift Iran sanctions following nuclear deal

These are set to remain in place for eight years.

This could, however, take some time as the money is deposited in banks around the world.

The US and other countries formally lifted banking, steel, shipping and other sanctions on Iran, a major oil producer that has been virtually shut out of worldwide markets for the past five years.

And the nuclear deal has a “snap-back” provision meaning sanctions could be quickly re-imposed if Iran is found not to be complying – more uncertainty. Iran with lots of infrastructure and vehicles is way overdue for an upgrade after years of sanctions. Javad Zarif has called the fresh sanctions unlawful.

The US is largely driven by politics: its continuing feud with Iran over the 1979 toppling of Washington’s longstanding ally, the shah, the detention of US diplomats at the embassy in Tehran and Iran’s backing for regional movements and groups – Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbollah – the US considers hostile, mainly due to their antagonism towards Israel.

The Obama administration also condemned the tests, but said the matter was “entirely separate” from the nuclear deal.

The US is a country that hangs onto grudges and is slow to reconcile. Although sanctions were not supposed to impact the import of medical supplies, they have in fact been severely restricted, leading to deaths from cancer and chronic diseases. Iran proved to be resilient in the face of the sanctions to a considerable extent.

“The Kingdom has maintained a policy of restraint in spite of having suffered-as have neighboring countries-the consequences of Iran’s continued aggressive policies”, a Foreign Ministry official said in a statement published by the official Saudi Press Agency. “Most of the regulation is still very much focused on local content, local companies, so it will be interesting to see how the Iranian government will navigate this influx of foreign investment”, said Sorana Parvulescu, MENA director at consultancy Control Risks. One of the first out of the blocks after the announcement was Daimler AG’s truck division, which on Monday announced joint ventures with Iranian partners that will enable it to restart its business there – a presence that went back to 1953 before being interrupted by sanctions from 2010 to 2016. By extension, investors across all sectors might struggle to access the financing options needed to make significant investments.

Iran also needs to reform its economy, but this could be hard to impossible if reformists supportive of President Hassan Rouhani are disqualified from the parliamentary race next month.

Iran’s parliamentary elections are February 26, and the country’s Guardian Council, a conservative committee of clerics and jurists, has blocked most reformist-minded candidates from running. The Assembly is in charge of electing the new Supreme Leader – such a poll looks increasingly possible as rumours mount about Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s deteriorating health.

Logically, therefore, he should support Rouhani in his appeal to the council to cancel disqualifications.

Iranian state television quoted Valiollah Seif, the head of Iran’s central bank, as saying that Tehran transferred funds from banks in Japan and South Korea to other banks in Germany and the United Arab Emirates.

Last month, the IAEA determined not only that Iran had been lying for years about its nuclear weapons development work, but that it was impossible to develop a complete picture of Iran’s nuclear weapons program because Iran had destroyed evidence and refused to answer its questions.

Additionally, the US Congress, dominated by the right-wing Republican Party, is determined to act as a spoiler. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., the senators also said they plan to introduce legislation to impose tougher sanctions against Iran for conducting ballistic missile tests in violation of a United Nations resolution.

Fresh sanctions are likely to be resisted by Europe, which is seriously interested in reconciling with Iran and ensuring that Iran is a positive force in worldwide affairs.

Then, just hours after blasting Washington for new sanctions, Zarif struck a conciliatory tone. “It’s something we’ve all known from the beginning”.