`New chapter` as Iran sanctions end

Iran "has opened a new chapter" in its ties with the world, President Hassan Rouhani said, hours after international nuclear sanctions were lifted, reports BBC.

The move came after the international nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, said Iran had complied with a deal designed to prevent it developing nuclear weapons.

UN, US and EU sanctions have hit Iran hard for years.

Most Western governments hailed the move but Israel accused Tehran of still seeking to build a nuclear bomb.

"Without an appropriate reaction to every violation, Iran will realise it can continue to develop nuclear weapons, destabilise the region and spread terror," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

US Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan said the Obama administration had moved to lift economic sanctions "on the world`s leading state sponsor of terrorism".

Before the deal, Iran could have enriched enough uranium to make a nuclear bomb within a matter of weeks, had it so wanted, says the BBC`s Bethany Bell in Vienna.

Now it would take more than a year and it is something international inspectors would see, she says.