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.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Iranian workers stand in front of the Bushehr nuclear power plant, about 1,200 km (746 miles) south of Tehran. Photograph: Reuters

The formal lifting of sanctions on Saturday has in effect reconnected Tehran to the global economy after a decade of complex, punitive measures. The Swift international transaction facilitator said on Sunday that Iranian banks were automatically reconnected to the world’s banking system. On Monday, senior officials at Iran’s oil ministry said the authorities had ordered an increase of half a million barrels per day as an embargo on Iranian oil was lifted. The increase in Tehran’s crude exports will affect the global oil market, already struck by plummeting price as the result of oversupply.

Ebtekar said she was at a film festival at Milad tower in Tehran late on Saturday when it was announced that the sanctions were going to be lifted. “People were truly content and there was a feeling of jubilation,” she said. “What I’m seeing over the social networks is that there is a lot of hope, a lot of optimism, and a lot of energy to move ahead.”

She said America’s conduct in the post-sanctions era would determine whether there were more scope to further relax bilateral ties. “I think this is a new era for sure,” she said.

Asked about the prospects of having a US secretary of state visiting Tehran for the first time since the revolution, Ebtekar said: “I think it’s very important to see how the US moves ahead in terms of implementing the agreement in different aspects and dimensions.

“There is a lot of enthusiasm on the part of American companies and private sector, looking forward to working with Iran. I also think there is a lot of enthusiasm on the part of the academics and private sectors [in Iran]. I think there will be a lot of public diplomacy, but perhaps also a lot of tourists coming and going.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest An oil worker rides past Tehran’s refinery. Crude prices rose on Monday as the market braced for additional Iranian exports after the lifting of sanctions against the country. Photograph: AP

There are deep suspicions in the Iranian establishment over how the US is committed to improve relations. Officials in Iran strongly protested at the announcement in Washington that the US was imposing more sanctions because of Iran’s ballistic missile programme just a day after the lifting of nuclear-related sanctions. American companies interested in entering the Iranian market are also impeded by previous sanctions related to terrorism.

A large number of Iranians, and not solely those sympathetic to the establishment, are particularly angry about a recent US congress legislation that punishes those Europeans and dual Iranians who have visited Iran, depriving them of the previously available visa waiver programme. The new legislation means a British national who has travelled to Iran over the course of past five years will no longer be able to visit the US without a visa.

Sanctions took a toll on Iran’s economy, including the environmental sector, she said. “They took a toll in many respects, particularly in regards to the new technologies that we require in areas like protection and preservation of our water resources, proper use of water in the sustained agricultural sector, protection of our rivers, wetlands, our lakes.”

Iran was facing a serious water challenge, like other countries in the region, but Rouhani’s government had allocated a national environmental fund to deal with the issue, as well as curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

“We need access to technologies not only in the refineries to produce high quality fuel but also in the automative sector – a city like Tehran has five million passenger cars and motorcycles and a lot of them are now obsolete, they have to be changed to modern standards vehicles,” she said.

On Monday, the German carmaker Daimler said it had signed letters of understanding with local partners to return its truck business to Iran, six years after sanctions interrupted its activity. Iran has a huge car market and French manufacturers, including Peugeot and Renault, are also considering a comeback.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. Photograph: Xinhua/Barcroft Media

Ebtekar said the next most important issue facing Rouhani’s administration is February’s parliamentary election and also the election of the next council of experts on the same day. On Sunday, as Iranians woke up to a first day without sanctions in years, hardliners in Iran struck the first blow against Rouhani by disqualifying a significant number of moderate and reformist candidates in the vetting process.



The Guardian Council, which vets candidates before any election in Iran, was reported to have approved the candidacy of only 40% of candidates. Some reports suggested only 30 out of 3,000 reformist figures who had registered were allowed to run, which means only 1% of the reformists have been approved. Iran’s sole outspoken member of the current parliament, Ali Motahari, is among those disqualified. The candidacy of a grandson of the founder of the Islamic republic was also reportedly rejected.



“There are concerns over the vetting process of the Guardian Council now and we hope that we can overcome those concerns,” Ebtekar said. “[Everyone] is looking forward to an election that could have fair and free competition, that’s the most important issue that we have ahead. The government is looking forward to making sure these elections are conducted properly according to law and according to the principles that we have for the democratic prospects of the country.”

When asked about rising tensions between Tehran and Riyadh over the Saudi execution of a prominent Shia, which led to the storming of the Saudi embassy in Iran, Ebtekar said Rouhani’s government had a policy of alleviating tensions. Tehran and Riyadh are at odds over a number of bruising conflicts in the region, including the war in Yemen and the fate of Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad.



“I think that Iran has proven now, particularly during the government of Dr Rouhani, that it has good intentions for all of its neighbours and is working to promote peace and security,” she said. “[There are] attempts that are being made to create a sense of Iranophobia. There is nothing to fear about Iran, which is an independent state in the region. While it is fully prepared to defend itself it is also fully prepared to work with its neighbours for peace, for prosperity and improving relations.”