Iran vice-president hails new era after removal of sanctions

The lifting of sanctions on Iran on Saturday marks a new era in bilateral relations between Tehran and Washington, one of the country’s vice-presidents has said, adding that further rapprochement is contingent on how the US goes about fulfilling its commitments under last summer’s nuclear accord.

In an interview with the Guardian, Masoumeh Ebtekar warned against what she said were new attempts in the region to create a sense of “Iranophobia”, though she did not single out by name Tehran’s regional rival, Saudi Arabia.

Ebtekar, a close ally of President Hassan Rouhani, hailed the removal of sanctions as “a success of diplomacy and negotiation” and said it was a very strong indication that with the necessary will “we can resolve many of the outstanding international conflicts, without resorting to force and violence”.

She hoped the implementation of the landmark nuclear deal would have a positive impact on the Syria talks, which have hit a stalemate. “We saw initially a couple of weeks ago some positive developments in regards to Syria with a lot of hope. I think we should look forward to a more positive role both for Iran but for all those looking forward to finding peaceful solution to issues like Syria and Yemen, because the ongoing conditions in Yemen are also terrible.”

Ebtekar, who is also the head of Iran’s environmental protection organisation, played a high-profile role during the 1979 Islamic revolution by serving as the spokeswoman for the Iranian students who stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took 52 diplomats hostage for 444 days. Six years spent in Philadelphia before the revolution accounts for her fluent, American-accented English.

Ebtekar, a prominent reformist figure, became Iran’s first woman vice-president when she previously served in the same office from 1997 to 2005. Many of the revolutionary students who were involved in the infamous hostage crisis then became prominent reformist figures, advocating better relations with the west. Some, including the architect of the attack Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, have spent time in jail for their views.