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American Prisoners Exchanged For Four Iranian Prisoners; U.S., E.U. Lift Economic Sanctions Against Iran. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired January 16, 2016 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:00] POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: After more than a year of top secret negotiations, four Americans held prisoner in Iran finally headed back home. In just moments we'll speak live to the wife of a freed prisoner, the American pastor, Saeed Abedini, stay with us for that. Her husband captured in September 2012, now she is waiting, waiting for that moment when they can reunite.
Others freed today include "Washington Post" reporter Jason Rezaian, marine veteran Amir Hekmati, and Nosratollah Khosrawi. A fifth American also being released from Iran, it is a student named Matthew Trevithick. U.S. officials say his release is not part of this negotiated prisoner swap, but he is coming home with those four other Americans.
Fourteen months of secret intense negotiations on the sidelines of the nuclear negotiations, that is what led to this historic moment today. The United States agreed to drop sanctions-related charges against seven Iranians being held in this country.
At this point, the names of those seven individuals still not being released in the Iranian or U.S. government. Our Nic Robertson is live in Vienna for us tonight. Nic, you are waiting for a significant press conference to happen, it will include Iran's foreign minister. What do we know?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Foreign policy chief also expected to be there, at his side, Poppy, of course, they were negotiating at opposite sides of the table in the summer. We just heard from the IAEA director general, Dr. Yukiya Amano. He has now announced that Iran is in full compliance with all the measures it had to take in the first phase of this agreement.
This now opens the door to sanctions being or some sanctions being lifted on Iran. Will freeze - unfreeze, rather, tens of billions of dollars of Iranian assets. But the director general of the IAEA going on to say that Iran now enters a new phase in its relationship with the IAEA, that there will be monitors from the IAEA in Iran now, that Iran must now sign up to what's known as the additional protocols, and these are very important going forward, because these give the inspectors, the IAEA inspectors on the ground in Iran, the right to say we would like to go and see that site or that site even if the Iranian authorities have not listed those sites where nuclear activity may or may not be taking place. If the inspectors feel that there is reason to question activity in those sites, then they can request that. That's the additional protocols, that's what's going to happen going forward.
The director general of the IAEA saying that this was an important day, a very important day for the international community, a lot of work has gone into this deal and, of course, as he's making this announcement we've been getting details through the day of this prisoner exchange, which is really as we now know, gone step by step in the shadows with this nuclear discussions, Poppy?
HARLOW: Nic Robertson live for us in Vienna, we'll continue to monitor this and bring you this press conference as soon as it begins. Before that, I want to take you to Washington, D.C., my colleague, Wolf Blitzer, is in there. Wolf, you are about to speak with a family member, the wife of the pastor who's now coming home.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Very important development we're waiting, as you point out, Poppy, for that news conference where we'll hear from the International Atomic Energy Agency officials, we'll hear from the Iranians, eventually hear from the secretary of state, John Kerry, I assume President Obama will be making a statement as well.
All of that, our viewers here in the United States and around the world, will see live as they unfold. Historic day here in Washington, around the world.
Joining us now on the phone is Naghmeh Adedini. She is the wife of the freed American prisoner, the pastor, Saeed Abedini, and her attorney, Jordan Seculo. Both joining us from Boise, Idaho. First of all, thanks to you very much for joining us. I know you're finding the news, you must be so relieved that your husband, Saeed Abedini, has been freed. How did you find out about this?
NAGHMEH ABEDINI, WIFE OF FREED PASTOR SAEED ABDEINI (ON THE PHONE): Well, thank you all for having me on. It's a great, joyful day. My kids cannot stop just running around and asking me every other second when they will get to hug daddy, so it's three and a half years in waiting. This morning I got messages through my Iranian friends that there was news out in the Iranian media that four Americans were released and soon after that I got a call from the State Department, probably 6:30 or 7:00 in the morning Mountain Time and they said that it is confirmed, that they were at the Swiss embassy at that time in the morning, this morning, and that they were being transferred over to another country for medical evaluation.
[16:05:00]
And once I got that confirmation, I told my kids, I woke them up and said daddy's coming home. They've just been really excited. We're waiting to hear from Saeed any time now. He's supposed to be able to call me any time. We're looking forward to getting a call from him.
BLITZER: That will be so exciting. But Naghmeh, as far as you know, he's still at the Swiss embassy in Tehran as we speak right now?
ABEDINI: Actually, I believe they are out.
BLITZER: They are out. ABEDINI: Spoke to - what I've heard, supposed to land to a safe
country, I believe it is in Germany at the U.S. base there for medical attention, and once they go through certain process with our government, then they are allowed to call family members. And that process should have been over by now, so any time in the next few minutes to few hours there should be a call from Saeed and other Americans to their families.
BLITZER: As we were told they'd go through some medical attention at a U.S. military facility in Germany before coming back to the United States. Do you plan on going over to Germany to be reunited, are you going to wait until your husband comes back to the United States?
ABEDINI: You know, I would love to go there. Trying to get the green light from State Department and from talking to my aunt and my husband and seeing what's the best, how long it will take if he's being brought over to the U.S. immediately, or what's going on. So I will have more information once I speak with him where we would meet, but I would fly in an hour, I would fly now to Germany if I had more information and confirmation that I could meet him.
BLITZER: That's what I have heard from family members, Jason Rezaian, Amir Hekmati, your husband, the pastor, Saeed Abedini. Do you know, by the way, this fourth American, Nosratollah Khosrawi, who was freed? We don't know much about him.
ABEDINI: There was not much information in the media about him, but there was some coverage a few months ago. He was picked up, he was a businessman in Dubai, dual Iranian-American citizen. There was not much media brought to his situation, but I'm aware of it and glad he's being freed, too. He's only been there a few months in their custody a few months.
BLITZER: I assume you and Jay Seculo (ph), your attorney, who's been really helpful in trying to get your husband, Saeed Abedini, freed. You've been in close touch with officials at the State Department. How have they treated you?
ABEDINI: Sorry. It's been wonderful. Especially the last year, constant communication, constant updates by, of course, last year at this time we met with President Obama. He was in Boise, Idaho, we had a private meeting with the kids. Just the last year has been the most - the best support. They were constantly updating us, talks they were having with Iran and the side negotiations, and I had a feeling in the last few months that it was coming to a close, but I wasn't really sure and I wasn't trying to get my hopes up, but they were constantly updating us that they were working on it and the talks that they were having, so our family was constantly updated.
Again, of course, President Obama meeting with my kids and with me, and reassuring me last year at this time that he would get my husband and other Americans out, that I'd have to be a little more patient, but that he was going to work at it like he did with the Cuban prisoner. And so it was reassuring when the president made that comment last year, and they've done a great job, especially the last year, our communication has gotten much better and they've reached out, made sure our family's OK from his cabinet, from president's cabinet members, meeting privately, calling, and checking up on our family, and just reassuring us that it's a high priority.
BLITZER: Naghmeh, as you know, for a long time U.S. officials were insisting there was no collection between the negotiations to try to free your husband, the other Americans, and the Iran nuclear deal, but the fact that your husband, the others are being freed on the same day as the implementation agreement goes into effect, it looks like there was a connection. Are you surprised?
ABEDINI: No. We didn't - we didn't believe there should have been a connection, but we never know what the Iranians, what the intentions and, you know, behind the scenes. But we knew that during the negotiations Saeed and other Americans were being discussed on the sidelines and it was was parallel with the nuclear talks. And so I'm not surprised it's happening on a crucial day with the nuclear milestone.
BLITZER: Remind our viewers, Naghmeh, because Jay Seculo (ph), your attorney was telling us earlier, Saeed Abedini, the pastor, your husband, he was in Iran, he wanted to open up an orphanage, is that right?
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ABEDINI: Yes, he was in Iran working on an orphanage when he was arrested. And the charges, they gave him eight years in prison. He served three years of that, three and a half years of that, and the charges they gave him was his Christian faith. They picked him up and didn't say he'd broken any law while he was in Iran. His sentence said it was his Christian conversion.
BLITZER: Naghmeh, I want to take a break for a moment. We're looking at live pictures, Javad Zarif, foreign minister of Iran is joined by the Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs, security policy, they're about to make a historic announcement. Let's listen in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good evening, I am pleased to introduce the (INAUDIBLE) of the European Union, Federica Mogherini and the Iranian minister of foreign affair, Javad Zarif, who will now deliver joint statement (INAUDIBLE).
FEDERICA MOGHERINI, E.U. HIGH REPRESENTATIVE FOR FOREIGN POLICY: If I can ask for silence, please. Thank you. Our friends, take a seat.
Good evening, and as usual, thank you for your presence, your work, and your patience. Today we have achieved implementation day of the joint comprehensive plan of action. Ever since adoption day we worked hard and showed mutual commitments and collective will to finally bring the GCPOA implementation. Today almost exactly six months after finalization of the historic deal, the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran has implemented its nuclear related commitments and the GCPOA. As Iran has fulfilled its commitments, today multilateral and national economic and financial sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program are lifted in accordance with the GCPOA.
The EU and the E3 plus countries consisting of People's Republic of China, the Republic of France, the Federal Republic of Germany, the Russian Federation, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Irelands, and the United States of America and Iran will also cooperate in the fields of peaceful uses of nuclear energy in the framework of the GCPOA.
U.N. sanctions related to Iran's nuclear program are lifted. United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 of 2015, which endorsed the GCPOA will from now onwards together with the Treaty of the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons be the sole international legal framework related to Iran's nuclear activities, terminating provisions of Resolutions 1696 of 2006, 1737 of 2007, 1747 of 2007, 1803 of 2008, 1835 of 2008, 1929 of 2010, and 2224 of 2015.
The European Union has confirmed that the legal framework providing for the lifting of its nuclear related economic and financial sanctions is effective. The United States today is seizing the application of its nuclear related statutory sanctions on Iran, including terminating relevant executive orders and licensing of certain activities as specified in the GCPOA.
European Union and the United States have issued relevant guidelines on the details of sanctions which have been lifted, thus facilitating international engagement in Iran's economic development. As foreseen, we will continue to thoroughly monitor and oversee the full and effective implementation of the GCPOA exactly as agreed on 14th of July, 2015, through the Joint Commission consisting of the E3 plus3 and Iran and coordinated by the high representative of union for foreign affairs and security policy.
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On its side, the IAEA is entrusted with responsibility for the monitoring and verification of the GCPOA as well as of Iran's obligation as a party to non-proliferation treaty and its safeguards, agreements, and the provisional application of its additional protocol.
We would like to use this opportunity to thank the Austrian government for their hospitality and all those countries that supported the negotiation process and helped to implement some of the commitments under the GCPOA.
We also wish to express our appreciation to all those who led these negotiations on behalf the Islamic Republic of Iran and the E3 EU plus 3 since 2003. All sides remain firmly convinced that this historic deal is both strong and fair and that it meets the requirements of all. Its proper implementation will be a key contribution to improved regional and international peace, stability, and security.
These achievements clearly demonstrates that with political will, perseverance, and through multilateral diplomacy we can solve the most difficult issues and find practical solutions that are effectively implemented. This is a encouraging and strong message that international community must keep in mind in our efforts to make the world a safer place. Thank you.
MOHAMMED JAVAD ZARIF, IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: I'm going to do what I always do, read in Persian exactly what she said in English. Don't worry about requiring translation.
MOGHERINI: Your English is better than mine.
ZARIF: But before I begin, let me thank you all for having waited several hours for both of us to come and appear before you, and apologize for having kept you waiting since probably some hours ago. Now, I just read it in Persian.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
BLITZER: All right. So while Javad Zarif, the foreign minister of Iran is speaking in Farsi, let's bring in Nic Robertson, who's there in Vienna for us.
Nic, it's a done deal right now, the International Atomic Energy has signed off on the deal, State Department has signed off on the deal, the European Union has signed off on the deal, the sanctions are about to be lifted. Iran so far is fully cooperating with its requirements to suspend its nuclear program. What happens next, Nic?
ROBERTSON: Inspectors will continue in Iran. What Iran has actually signed up for here and what the inspectors have agreed that they've done, this is what we're hearing here that they've done this, that they've reduced their stockpile of enriched uranium down to 300 kilograms from about 10,000 kilograms.
They've reduced their number of centrifuges used to enrich uranium down to 6,041. They've dismantled their (INAUDIBLE) heavy water plant that can make plutonium that can potentially be used for a weapon, that they have now taken out all (INAUDIBLE) material from the Fodor Research facility site.
So all of these things have been done, but what happens here and what we heard Federica Mogherini lay out briefly after she went through that long list of detailing some of the sanctions that are being lifted, some of the impediments that Iran has had put in its way because of its nuclear, apparent nuclear ambitions in the past, having laid all those out, she said that now Iran will have to continue to comply.
So what we can expect now are more IAEA inspectors to be in Iran, that Iran will have to sign this additional protocol, which will allow the IAEA inspectors to nominate sites that they want to go to, that the Iranians may not have said that they have any nuclear activity but, of course, caused concern for the inspectors that they'll go nominate those sites and go there.
This is going to be a very long process. We know that the reductions that Iran has now carried out, those reductions have to continue to be implemented in most cases for 15 years and in the short case, the centrifuge reduction for the next 10 years. So that is going to take a lot of monitoring and a lot of checking by the IAEA to make sure that Iran continues with that.
Of course, the unlocking of the sanctions now, the unfreezing of Iranian assets and Iran will begin to see that money begin to flow back to it, Wolf.
[16:20:00]
BLITZER: Nic, stand by for a moment. Just got a statement from the secretary of state John Kerry saying the U.S. can confirm that the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran has fully implemented its required nuclear-related commitments.
The statement says as a result, the U.S. sanctions related commitments are now in effect, meaning the U.S. and others, are going to go ahead and ease those sanctions as part of this agreement.
Elise Labott is our global affairs correspondent. Elise, you're getting more information on how all of this went down over the past few hours.
ELISA LABOTT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, Wolf. I mean, obviously, this is the capping of 14 months of diplomacy between U.S. and iranian diplomats, which really accelerated after this nuclear deal was signed. U.S. officials saying that Secretary Kerry to Iranian foreign minister Zarif said, "listen, this is a real opportunity here to put this behind us, let's get rid of what they called an irritant in the relationship so they can move on to other things."
So these negotiations over the last several months have really intensified in recent days, which culminated in the U.S. getting those four Americans released and the Iranians having seven U.S. Iranian nationals released. Then Iran decided, although this fifth American, Matthew Trevithick, has not been part of the original deal, the Iranians as a good will gesture also decided to release him, this young student was in Iran, he was detained, we understand just a little bit over a month ago.
So this is the culmination of a lot of diplomacy, Secretary Kerry and foreign minister Zarif. Also we understand Bret Magerk, who was a top U.S. diplomat now, replaced General John Allen as the U.S. envoy to ISIS Coalition all really trying to get this done, Wolf, in the last several days.
You saw earlier this week the detention of 10 U.S. sailors threatened to complicate this, but the detention by Iran, but U.S. officials say Secretary Kerry and foreign minister Zarif agree that this could really potentially be a roadblock here, so they decided, you saw, that was resolved quickly, Wolf, with what is considered record time in Iran within 24 hours those sailors were released so they could get back to focusing on concluding this landmark agreement on the prisoner swap. Wolf?
BLITZER: Very important day, indeed, historic day as we've been saying. Elise, stand by. Jim Sciutto, our chief national security correspondent, Jim, you're getting more information, as well as to where we go from here.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, you're going to have, as you heard from Federica Mogherini, U.S. and U.N. sanctions lifted, you'll have Iran with access beginning this weekend. It won't be within seconds or minutes, but beginning this weekend to, one, tens of billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets, assets frozen overseas, the figure thrown around has been $150 billion, is the U.S. treasury's estimate that about $50 billion of that will be immediately available to Iran because some of the rest of it is committed to previous debts, et cetera, but a significant amount of money no question.
The other thing to watch for is companies from Europe, even some companies from the U.S., have been waiting to go into Iran to make deals and I'll tell you, those deals are probably pretty far along waiting for this moment, waiting for signatures at the bottom of those deals. They'll be in the oil and gas industry. There was even announcement that U.S. automakers will be allowed to sell cars in Iran. That will take some time, certainly, but this is about Iran in effect ending decades of isolation, in effect, from the international community and that isolation particularly has been in an economic sense.
It will be able to sell its oil, access to frozen assets, and Iranian companies will be able to do business with international companies. We also hear of a major order for airbus airplanes into Iran. That's been a big issue in Iran because they have very old aircraft, they haven't been able to get replacement parts for it, safety issues. That's a significant chance.
And I tell you, Wolf, I remember you and I sitting in front of the U.N. building during the general assembly in September of 2014 reporting on the phone call. Just remembering that all these negotiations started with one phone call from President Obama to the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani as he was leaving the General Assembly, that historic call, hadn't had the leaders speak in those terms which then began a process that we learned was in secret channels before then, but began these public negotiations and now we're seeing them come to fruition today.
I will say, though, Wolf, that there are still critics out there and I just saw the new speaker of the House, the Republican speaker of the house Paul Ryan put out a statement already criticizing the deal, in his words, Iran is likely to use this cash infusion to finance terrorists. That is probably a criticism you'll hear from him and other Republicans in the coming days and weeks as this deal is implemented going forward.
[16:25:01]
BLITZER: Yes, there's going to be a lot of criticism coming from Republicans, maybe even some Democrats, as well, who voted against that Iran nuclear deal. I'm anxious, Jim, to hear if the president and President Rouhani of Iran have another phone call today or tomorrow now that the American prisoners in Iran have been released, now that this deal has been implemented, now that the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has certified that Iran is fully complying with what it's supposed to do as far as its nuclear program, will there be a good will gesture on the part of the president of the United States, the president of Iran for this phone call, I suspect we're going to be hearing from the president fairly soon.
This is a moment he's going to want to address the American people and the world. We'll, of course, have live coverage once that happens. Jim Sciutto, thanks very much.
Let's go to the White House right now. Chris Frates is joining us, you're there on the north lawn right outside. I take it they've just released a new order about implementing the release of the sanctions. What are you hearing, Chris?
CHRIS FRATES, CNN INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Wolf, so we have the executive order here showing that the president is lifting the sanctions on Iran, that's huge, that's what Speaker Ryan was referring to, tens of billions of dollars will now be available to Iran to use and we've seen a lot - a pick up of activity here at the White House since the announcement by the IAEA that today is, in fact, implementation day.
We're expecting to hear from senior administration officials a little bit later this hour to walk us through the day. We've been kind of in a holding pattern, as you know, so things are picking up here. We have Secretary Kerry also putting out a statement saying the sanctions are lifted, but we're still waiting to see, Wolf, exactly when and if the president is going to address this.
Is he going to put out a statement or does he want to come to the cameras? This is a really big victory lap for him and we talked to a senior administration officials earlier today who made the point, that of course, the president signed off on this and that, you know, both the dual tracks of negotiating the nuclear deal with Iran and the negotiations to get the Americans out of Iran were big victories, and they believe that this shows that Barack Obama's diplomacy gave them victories, whether it was the Americans who were detained, whether it was the nuclear deal, or, in fact, getting the 10 sailors released very quickly earlier this week when they were taken by Iran.
They believe that the relationships that they've built here are giving them the wins. We'll see if the president comes out and takes a victory lap from the White House today. Wolf.
BLITZER: I'll be anxious to see once the president does make a statement, I think he will be making a statement to the American people. Will he go into the White House briefing room to make the statement, will he be in the east room of the White House, will he be in the foyer, will he do an Oval Office address to the American people.
As a former White House correspondent, all of those various venues in the west wing of the White House or in the main part of the White House have specific significance. It would be interesting to me as an old White House former correspondent where the president makes this address. I assume the secretary of state John Kerry, who's in Vienna, he'll be making a statement, as well.
CNN will have live coverage of this historic development. The agreement to go ahead and lift sanctions against Iran, billions of dollars will start flowing into Iran very soon within the next few days. Huge development, obviously, coming on the same day that four - let's put it more bluntly, Five American prisoners in Iran have been released, seven Iranian prisoners in the United States have been pardoned, another 14 Iranians who were wanted by the United States sought for extradition by Interpol as a result of U.S. request, they will no longer be sought for extradition. Historic day, much more coming up. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:31:17] BLITZER: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting from Washington.
There's breaking news on several fronts today. Only moments ago, the United States, the European Union, they've lifted economic sanctions against Iran, immediately freeing up about $50 billion in frozen Iranian assets. This follows the stunning prisoner swap earlier in the day with four American prisoners exchanged for four Iranian prisoners, a fifth American was freed, as well, not formally part of the deal.
Let's go to straight to CNN's Richard Quest. He's joining us from Davos, Switzerland, right now, much of the groundwork for the deal.
Richard, clearly, it has been laid. Walk us through the ramifications now for Iran, indeed the rest of the world as a result of billions of dollars flowing into Iran and the trade opportunities, the investment opportunities that are now opened up.
RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): It's a bonanza, Wolf, no getting away from it. Initially for Iran, the freeing up of some believe up to $100 billion worth of frozen assets, both in the European Union and particularly in the United States. That will immediately be unfrozen and will be available for Iranian companies and for the Iranian government to start spending.
But there's a lot more to this than just frozen assets. Crucially, of course, it's about oil. It's about Iran's ability to pump more oil and sell it on the international market.
It's a tricky position for them, Wolf, the more they pump and sell, the lower the price will go. And the price is already, as you know, heading under $30 a barrel. For Iranian economy, this is the bonanza. This is what's been behind it. Their ability to get outward investment coming into the country, Wolf, and crucially to start modernizing an oil industry, an energy industry, that frankly is running on fumes.
BLITZER: A lot of European investors, they want to move in, Richard, into Iran as quickly as possible. German, French, Italian, Spanish, they see great opportunities to make money in Iran, don't they? QUEST: Huge opportunity. This is the last opportunity to get in
somewhere, in oil fields, in energy, but not just that, Wolf, there are a variety of other areas -- everything from banking, to insurance, all the other areas that Iran's economy simply has not had the level of sophistication in the last decade or more because of the sanctions.
Now, in the U.S. political sphere, of course, there are those like Donald Trump who will be -- who are absolutely saying that the $100 billion windfall that the Iranian economy is about to get is disadvantageous to the West, but at the moment I'm guaranteeing to you in the boardrooms of oil companies, banks, investment houses, tonight, they will be dusting off the plans and making arrangements to head to Tehran.
BLITZER: The argument that some of the critics have made, Richard, and you've studied this closely, is that let's say they get $100 billion in frozen assets, most of that money is already obligated, they say, it's got to go to various debtors, if you will, a lot to go to try to improve the economy inside Iran, help the people, make sure they have a better life. But billions could still be given to various what the U.S. call terror organizations and that could make life miserable in other parts of the Middle East, indeed, around the world.
How much of a concern is there that billions could start flowing not from where it's supposed to go to help the Iranian people, but flowing towards various terror groups?
[16:35:04] QUEST: Well, that goes to the very heart, Wolf, of exactly the dispute at the moment between (AUDIO GAP) and others, exactly the final thing of terrorist activities or for those organizations. The more money that starts sloshing around the system, the more you can guarantee we'll be siphoned or leaked off for other purposes. Who has to come forward and say how they prevent that from happening.
There's no question, we're not talking about a bit of money here. We are talking huge sums of money that will now be (AUDIO GAP). It's not going to happen overnight, I don't think, because the economy is absolutely moribund in the sense of investment, of technology, and modernization.
But the plans will be in place, the money will start flowing, and, really, what you have (AUDIO GAP) that price of oil. Can Iran -- does it pay Iran to pump -- they said in an exclusive interview with Iran they want to pump up to 5 million barrels a day. If they do that in short order, the price collapses beyond belief. They're not stupid. They know they are entering the oil market at a crucially difficult moment.
BLITZER: Richard Quest reporting for us from Davos, Switzerland. He's in Switzerland for that economic summit that's about to take place.
We also know, by the way, the Swiss government played a very important role in facilitating the release of American prisoners in Iran. They were initially taken to the Swiss embassy in Tehran. The U.S., of course, does not have diplomatic relations with Iran. I want to take a break, but I want to read for our viewers first a
statement very brief from the Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. It's an important statement and it underscores the criticism that's coming in from a lot of Republicans to what has just happened. "Today, the Obama administration will begin lifting economic sanctions on the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism. As the president himself has acknowledged, Iran is likely to use this cash infusion."
We're going to continue this, but here's the Secretary of State John Kerry.
JOHN KERRY, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Thank you very much for your patience, and I apologize for the fact I can't stay to take questions, which I would like to do, but we are operating under some very tight constraints on the rest period the law allows for our pilots because of some of the delays, so as a result, I need to get to the airport and get on a plane. But I will make a statement before doing so. I hope it will cover much of what you're concerned about.
This having we are really reminded once again of diplomacy's power to tackle significant challenges. Thanks to years of hard work and committed dialogue, we have made vital breakthroughs related to both the nuclear negotiation and a separate long-term diplomatic effort.
I'm very happy to say that as we speak, we received confirmation that five Americans who have been unjustly detained in Iran have been released from custody and they should be on their way home to their families before long, shortly. The president will have more to say about their release later.
But I can tell you one thing, while the two tracks of negotiations were not directly related and they were not, there is no question that the pace and the progress of the humanitarian talks accelerated in light of the relationships forged and the diplomatic channels unlocked over the course of the nuclear talks, and certainly in the time since we've reached an agreement last July, there was a significant pickup in that dialogue.
We have also reached a critical and auspicious milestone on the nuclear issue, as well. Today, more than four years after I first traveled to Oman at the request of President Obama to discreetly explore whether the kind of nuclear talks that we ultimately entered into with Iran were even possible, after more than two and a half years of intense multilateral negotiations, the International Atomic Energy Agency has now verified that Iran has honored its commitments to alter and, in fact, dismantle much of its nuclear program in compliance with the agreement that we reached last July.
[16:40:13] I want to thank the IAEA and Director Amano for their significant efforts in this regard and I know that he will go tomorrow to Tehran to begin the process of the full implementation. To get to this point, ladies and gentlemen, Iran has undertaken significant steps that many, and I do mean many, people doubted would ever come to pass. And that should be recognized, even though the full measure of this achievement can only be realized by assuring continued full compliance in the coming years.
In return for the steps that Iran has taken, the United States and the E.U. will immediately lift nuclear-related sanctions expanding the horizon of opportunity for the Iranian people and I am even tonight before coming over here signed a number of documents over those sanctions that the State Department has jurisdiction over in order to effect that lifting. In the words of the agreement itself, today, January 16th, 2016, we have reached implementation day.
Today marks the moment that the Iran nuclear agreement transitions from an ambitious set of promises on paper to measurable action in progress. Today as a result of the actions taken since last July, the United States, our friends and allies in the Middle East, and the entire world are safer because the threat of the nuclear weapon has been reduced. Today we can confidently say that each of the pathways that Iran had toward enough material for nuclear weapon has been verifiably closed down.
That begins with the Iranian path. Before the negotiations began, Iran was adding rapidly and without constraint to its stockpile of enriched uranium. As it committed to do back in July, Iran has now reduced that stockpile to less than 300 kilograms, sending the rest of it out on a ship which has gone to Russia to be processed there. That means their current enriched uranium is 2 percent of what it was before we completed the agreement and the rest is shipped out of the country.
Iran has also removed a full two-thirds of its centrifuges from nuclear facilities, along with the infrastructure that supported it. They've literally taken it out, dismantled, stored, that includes nearly all of its advanced centrifuges and the removed hardware is sealed up around under the clock monitoring by the IAEA. Iran has now ended all uranium enrichment at its Fordow, disconnected all related centrifuges and removed all fissile material from the site.
The second path open to Iran was the plutonium path. Before we sat down at the negotiating table, Iran's heavy water reactor at Arak had the potential when and if it became operational to produce enough weapons grade plutonium annually to fuel two nuclear weapons. Iran has now begun the process of modifying the entire Arak reactor, so it will only be used for peaceful purposes. It is removed the reactor's core and filled it with cement, ensuring that it can be never used again.
Finally, the third path, the most troubling path in many respects, was the potential for Iran to pursue enough fissile material for a weapon covertly, using a facility not publicly declared. Now, before the talks started, the IAEA did not have assured access to investigate locations at which undeclared nuclear activities might be carried out. It also lacked the ability to track uranium as it was mined, milled, and then turned into yellow cake.
Today, the IAEA has put in place every one of the extensive transparency and verification measures called for in the agreement.
[16:45:00] That means in addition to the 24/7 monitoring of all of Iran's declared nuclear facilities, the IAEA now has visibility and accountability of the entire supply chain that supports Iran's nuclear program from start to finish -- from Iranian mines and mills to centrifuge manufacturing and operation. So, today, Iran would need more than one covert facility to try to break up. It would need to develop an entire covert supply chain from start to finish, which experts around the world agree is not possible without early detection.
As I said, the steps that Iran has taken to fully implement the nuclear agreement have fundamentally altered the country's nuclear program. Two years ago, we assessed that Iran's breakout time, the amount of time it took to go from producing fissile -- enriched uranium would have enough for a bomb, that amount of time has gone from two to three months where it was, now today we are confident that based on the reductions in its stockpile, reduction in its centrifuges, it would take Iran at least a year to try to break out of the agreement, kick out the inspectors, accumulate the amount of fissile material needed for a single bomb.
And if Iran ever did decide to do that, because of the steps that are in this agreement, we would know it almost immediately and we would have enough time to respond accordingly.
Let me underscore verification remains as it always has been the backbone of this agreement. We welcome that Iran has followed through on the promises that it made. It has kept its word, and we will continue to do the same. But we will also remain vigilant in verifying Iran's compliance every hour of every day in the years ahead.
Now, I emphasize -- today's announcement gives us even more hope, more confidence in the possibilities about this effort going forward. Thus far, Iran has taken every step that it committed to take, dating back two full years. Not just back to July, but dating back to the interim agreement that we announced in Geneva in Switzerland, and we have now two years of compliance already under our belt with another 13 and then another 15 and then another 20, and another 25, and then the lifetime of this agreement under the additional protocol and the modified code 3.1.
Now, obviously, past performance does not guarantee future results. We know that. Furthermore, while we welcome implementation day, we understand that this marker alone does not wipe away all of the concerns that the international community has rightly expressed about Iran's policies and actions and choices in the region. But we also know without doubt there is not a challenge in the entire region that wouldn't become much more complicated, much worse, if Iran had a nuclear weapon.
And that is why this agreement is so important. With the agreement fully implemented, the international community can finally work to address the other regional challenges without the looming threat of a nuclear armed Iran, including the crisis in Syria on which we have made important progress in recent months.
Before I close, I want to thank a few important people who brought us here to this day, who have been critical to this process throughout the negotiations. And that starts with the person I work for, President Obama, who has been resolute in insisting that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon and equally strong and courageous in asserting that diplomacy should be given a fair chance to achieve that goal. His courage to pursue a path that many people deemed impossible and some people deemed inadvisable is the reason we are where we are, marking implementation day, not alone, not bilaterally, but with France, Germany, Britain, China, Russia, all of us joined together in an effort to create this accountability.
[16:50:10] I also want to thank the delegations representing all of our P5 partners, all of them have worked unbelievably hard and have set a standard for international cooperation, and I particularly want to thank Dame Cathy Ashton for helping to lead this process for two and a half years and her successor, Federica Mogherini, for expertly coordinating international efforts during the final stage and helping in these last two days to bring us to this announcement.
I also want to express my gratitude for the superb efforts of my own delegation, led by Steve Mull and previously by Wendy Sherman, all of whom from the State Department, from the White House, throughout the interagency system we work with in the United States, all of them, the Justice Department, the Energy Department, Ernie Moniz and others, have done an extraordinary job and richly deserve gratitude of our nation, and I believe other nations who benefit from this.
Let me also thank the government of Austria, Switzerland, and Oman for their continued and enormously generous hospitality at times, for their assistance all the time, and for the international work that they have helped to make possible here. And I'm particularly grateful to the government of Switzerland, Didier Burkhalter and all those who have worked in the last days as our representative in Tehran in helping us with a mission regarding the release of the Americans, which you will hear more about from President Obama later.
Finally, I want to again express my deep respect for the serious and constructive approach that Iran's delegation brought to this effort. Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and his team from day one demonstrated their deep commitment and seriousness of purpose and Dr. Ali Salahi has worked diligently with Secretary Moniz to find creative solutions to difficult technical challenges. And we've been able to approach every step of this process with professionalism and mutual respect.
The hard work will continue, no question, and the tough politics surrounding this issue in many countries, including the United States and Iran, that's obviously not going to get easier overnight. But the fact is, that today marks the first day of a safer world, one where we believe it is possible to remain safer for years to come and particularly with the compliance of this agreement.
I think we have also proven once again why diplomacy has to always be our first choice and war our last resort, and that is a very important lesson to re-enforce. We have approached this challenge with the firm belief that exhausting diplomacy before choosing war is an imperative, and we believe that today marks the benefits of that choice. Thank you. (APPLAUSE)
BLITZER: The Secretary of State of the United States, John Kerry, with a statement at the end, a very important statement insisting today marks the first day of a safer world now that Iran, according to the international nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, has fully complied with all of its nuclear commitments. As a result, economic sanctions against Iran are being eased immediately. Billions of dollars will start flowing into Iran, trade investment opportunities will open up, as well.
All this coming on the same day that five American prisoners held by Iran has been released, in exchange, seven Iranian prisoners held by the United States released, another 14 Iranians wanted by the United States for extradition put on an Interpol watch list, they are being removed from that Interpol watch list. They will no longer be on that demand, no longer sought by the United States.
Jim Sciutto is watching what's going on, our chief national security correspondent.
Jim, a very optimistic, robust statement from the secretary of state.
SCIUTTO: No question. In effect, Secretary of State John Kerry selling the deal on the day that it's implemented, saying that all paths to a nuclear weapon in his words have been blocked, both through enriching uranium, but also through the plutonium reactor that has been disabled as part of this accord, selling the continued oversight that will happen. And we learned there that the IAEA chief, this is the -- of course, the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, that they'll be traveling to Iran tomorrow, in effect keeping up that presence there to monitor Iran's continued compliance with the agreement.
[16:55:08] And pride, certainly, coming to cross in that statement, as well. And no one has been there from the beginning as much as John Kerry has, as well, throughout these negotiations. The other thing he did in there was make a connection, of course, I think all of us struck by the timing on the day of implementation of the deal is also the day those five Americans are released from Iran and the secretary of state acknowledging in his words that the prisoner swap was accelerated by the nuclear deal.
They were two separate negotiations track, the nuclear issue and prisoner swap, but those tracks intercepting today with the deal being implemented and those prisoners being released, so some connection there, the fact they are happening at the same time. And I think, too, him, Secretary of State John Kerry, we talk a lot about how this is President Obama's legacy, this nuclear deal, it's also Secretary of State John Kerry's legacy.
He's a man who wanted the job of secretary of state. He's focused on some of the difficult tasks given to him by the president, some of them haven't gone anywhere, Mideast peace, for instance, but the Iran nuclear deal, perhaps one of the hardest, has come to be. There's certainly still criticism out there, but from his perspective, very conscious of the history mark today with the implementation of this agreement, as well.
BLITZER: Very interesting. He opened by saying President Obama would have more to say about the freedom for these five American prisoners. He closed by saying the same thing, stand by to hear from the president of the United States, which is precisely what we're going to be doing. We'll hear from the president of the United States, he'll be making his statement.
Interesting, Jim, how there's a division of labor there, the secretary of state speaking about the Iran nuclear commitments, the sanctions released, saying the president will talk about the release of the prisoners. Two very separate missions, one for the president, one for the secretary of state.
Stand by. All of our reporters are standing by, here in Washington, indeed around the world. Historic day, the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal, the release of five American prisoners, release of seven Iranian prisoners.
Our special live breaking coverage resumes right after this.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.
HARLOW: I want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. In a moment, I'll be joined by my colleague Wolf Blitzer, as we continue to cover breaking news in what is a historic day.
