Iran frees American prisoners as international sanctions to end
- Iran freed four Americans including a Washington Post reporter on Saturday in a prisoner swap, as diplomats gathered to announce the lifting of international sanctions and bring the country of 80 million people back to the global economic stage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency was expected to announce in Vienna that Tehran had complied with the requirements of a deal reached last year, under which it was to curb its nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions imposed by the United States, United Nations and European Union.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who developed a strong rapport while hammering out last year's deal, met in a Vienna hotel before the announcement.
"Implementation day" of the nuclear deal marks the biggest re-entry of a former pariah state into world commerce since the end of the Cold War.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-iran-nuclear-zarif-idUSKCN0UU0C7