Mali frees Resolute executives after $160 million deal, AFP reports
The three executives, including CEO Terry Holohan, were freed from detention on Wednesday.
Central Bank of Iran.
Iran has successfully repatriated this week 13 tons of gold as part of a package of sanctions relief provided by the U.S. and other five global powers, the head of the country’s central bank (CBI) announced.
The bullion was transferred from South Africa, which had been holding onto the assets due to sanctions meant to pressure Tehran to rein in its nuclear program.
The head of Iran’s central bank, Valiollah Seif, noted the gold had not been transferred to Tehran before “because of illogical problems created under the pretext of sanctions,” Tasnim News Agency reports.
He attributed the successful repatriation to the merit of the Iranian negotiators during the ongoing Vienna meetings, adding that “sanctions relief against Iran and the country’s regaining access to its financial resources and gold abroad” was one of the main goals of such talks.
Iran’s GDP has grown 3% in the last year, prompting experts to warn that harsh sanctions imposed on the nation are simply not working.
Iran and the P5+1 group — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China, plus Germany — agreed on a framework of understanding in April, and set June 30 as the deadline for concluding a final deal. However, the parties decided later to extend the talks until July 7.
3 Comments
ChangeIranNow
This follows a series of concessions already granted by the P5+1 including the exclusion of ballistic missile technology, the retaining of thousands of enriching
centrifuges and moves to accommodate Hezbollah and Pakistani nuclear component exporters. Not to mention the failure of the Iran regime to curb its support for three proxy wars, the release of four American hostages and any loosening of brutal human rights repression. This is while over 1800 people have been executed in Iran during Rouhani’s tenure. All of which sets the stage for the final act before July 9 of whether or not the P5+1 completely cave and adhere to all of Khamenei’s conditions or recognize in the final act that Iran’s mullahs really have no desire for an agreement and instead have been fooling the world for the past three years.
Kenneth Viney
I like the Iranian people but the religious clerics can rationalize all sorts of wrong doing in the name of Allah and you will never get them to drop the nuke program. They may delay for a few months or years. So What? The Saudi and UAE are already working on plans with the Koreans to build nuke power plants so they have the same fuel to build a bomb. Now you have a problem.
patentbs
P5+1 — Suckers! Outscored by a bunch of mullahs.
Isolation is usually not an answer. Neither is giving in without guarantees.