 "A file photo of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, right, speaking at a news briefing, while his Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, second left, deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, first left, listen, at the Saadabad palace in Tehran, Iran")
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani today hailed the lifting of international sanctions on his country following the entry into force of last July's momentous nuclear deal with major powers.
"We Iranians have reached out to the world in a sign of friendliness, and leaving behind the enmities, suspicions and plots, have opened a new chapter in the relations of Iran with the world," the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.
Iran took a huge step toward ending its international isolation yesterday after the United Nation's atomic watchdog confirmed Iran was carrying out measures agreed under the deal.
"The implementation of the JCPOA is not a loss for any country," Rouhani said, referring to the "Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action", the official name for Tehran's nuclear agreement with the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia.
"The friends of Iran are happy and its competitors need not worry, we are not a threat to any government or nation," Rouhani said.
"We are a messenger of peace, stability and security in the region and the world.
