1/16/2016

Notations On Our World (W-End Edition): On a Good Day For Our World.....

It has been quite a day in our World as The Iran Dela Implementation Day was at hand.    We were monitoring developments from Vienna as meetings ensued between The US Secretary of State and the Iranian Foreign Minister:



and as we awaited the formal word from the Director General of the IAEA which came earlier today California time:


IAEA (@iaeaorg)
#IAEA Director General confirms #Iran took all steps to start the implementation of #JCPOAgoo.gl/Zf416M pic.twitter.com/iDV2hwnWAx

His full statement is noted as follows:




Once the word came, sanctions were formally lifted.   It included the signoffs by President Obama of the lifting of Economic Sanctions and a formal joint announcement from the EU Foreign Policy Chief who had a joint news conference with the Iranian Foreign Minister and John Kerry signing off :

Lifting Sanctions On Iran: How It Will Work   

What our team was also gratified was the reports on the Americans being freed and as we understand it, were being flown out of Tehran on a Swiss Government Jet--One of them being Jason Rezaian, the imprisoned Bureau Chief for Tehran for the Washington Post that we here @ #.   We also understand that his wife, Yegenah Salehi, has also been given permission to leave Iran.   We could not confirm as we went to press as to whether Yeganeh (or Yegi) who was also detained and subsequently released left with her husband.      The Iranian Foreign Minister had just arrived in Tehran as we went to press as President Rouhani earlier tweeted his congratulations and issued a statement on this as he has now arrived at a session of Parliament as it begins deliberations of the budget for the new Iranian Year:






We also received this from the White House noted by the Secretary of Energy as well on this pivotal day:


The White House, Washington
After years of negotiation and months of preparation, we've reached a milestone.
Today, we are officially implementing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a historic agreement to ensure that Iran's nuclear program is exclusively peaceful in nature. Before this agreement, Iran's breakout time -- or the time it would take for Iran to gather enough fissile material to build a weapon -- was just two to three months. Today, because of the Iran deal, it would take them 12 months or more.
Here's how we got to this point:
Since last October, Iran has shipped 25,000 pounds of enriched uranium out of the country and has removed and placed in monitored storage two-thirds of its centrifuges and associated infrastructure. The core of Iran's Arak Heavy Water Research Reactor was removed and filled with concrete, eliminating Iran's potential source of weapons-grade plutonium. To block covert pathways, Iran has allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) unprecedented access to its nuclear facilities and supply chain. And for the first time, the IAEA will be using modern safeguards technologies in its monitoring and verification efforts in Iran.
As a result of these actions, earlier today, the IAEA reported that Iran has completed all of the necessary nuclear steps required to reach Implementation Day.
To date, experts at DOE headquarters, seven national laboratories, and two DOE nuclear sites have been actively involved in reaching and now implementing the agreement. For instance, our experts helped shape the negotiations with rigorous technical analysis of the parameters of the agreement, ensuring Iran’s breakout time is at least a year. In addition, our labs support the IAEA’'s monitoring and verification activities in a number of ways, including by every IAEA inspector in nuclear materials measurement training since 1980.
These experts will continue to play a critical role as the Department leads the U.S. effort to help ensure that Iran meets its key nuclear commitments.
As a nuclear physicist at the negotiating table, and by working continuously with my Iranian counterpart right up to Implementation Day, I know it took a lot to get here. Based on hard science and analysis, the Iran nuclear agreement enhances our global security and provides verification to ensure that Iran’'s nuclear program is exclusively peaceful from now on.
Thank you,
Secretary Ernest Moniz
Department of Energy
@ErnestMoniz
Visit WhiteHouse.gov



The opponents of the deal, though, were critical throughout the day especially as seven Iranians of dual national status were pardoned by the President as part of the deal.    A sampling of the discourse over the web is noted below:

Marco Rubio on the Iran Deal:

https://marcorubio.com/news/marco-rubio-cancel-iran-deal/

Donald Trump on the Plight of the US Sailors:






We here at #Outsiders are gratified at the news of this day and are gratified for all the prisoners and their families.    As we also went to press, we also received reports that the Prime Minister of Pakistan is slated to visit Iran and Saudi Arabia in a bit to defuse the tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia--which we also are gratified to report on.

A pleasure to report on a good day for our World as America celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr as we close with this from Dr. King:   




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