On Tuesday Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tentatively welcomed the lift of the US economic sanctions and the completion of the nuclear deal, Reuters reports.
While these new liberties will benefit Iran, the Supreme Leader wrote in a letter to Iranian president Hassan Rouhani, “I reiterate the need to be vigilant about the deceit and treachery of arrogant countries, especially the United States, in this (nuclear) issue and other issues.”
Khamenei wrote that Iran “paid a heavy price” the lift of economic sanctions. “Comments and writings that try to ignore this fact and pretend to be thankful to the Western side are not honest with the nation’s public opinion.”
Aware of some American politicians’ disapproval of Iran’s increased freedom, Ayatollah Khamenei wrote, “Be careful that the other side fully meets its commitments. The comments made by some American politicians in last two, three days are suspicious.”
Khamenei’s remark about American politicians comes after many Republican presidential candidates criticized the Obama administration’s negotiation with Iran this past weekend, which resulted in the return of five American prisoners.
In response to the prisoner swap, Republican presidential candidate [crscore]Marco Rubio[/crscore] told NBC’s “Meet the Press,” “Our enemies now know that if you can capture an American, you can get something meaningful in exchange for it.”
The lifting of the economic sanctions will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the Iranian economy. However, neighboring countries’ leaders are wary of Iran’s new freedom.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday, “Iran will now have more resources to dedicate to their terrorism and aggression in the region and in the world.”