He did not elaborate.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hailed the nuclear deal as a "golden page" in Iran's history and said the agreement could be used as a model to resolve other regional issues.

A spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry, Hossein Jaber Ansari, said "Iran's missile program has never been created to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons", according to Iran's ISNA news agency.

He also mentioned Iran's recent missile test in the vicinity of a USA warship, which the us claims violates Iran's worldwide obligations, and announced a new round of sanctions against the missiles program once the American prisoners were safely out of Iran.

The U.S. side did not want the new sanctions to have a negative impact on the nuclear talks, Chu Yin, deputy professor of global affairs with Beijing-based University of worldwide Relations, told Xinhua.

"With the nuclear deal done, prisoners released, the time was right to resolve this dispute as well", he said. Those came in exchange for the release of a number of Iranians in USA detention, although the president insisted they were not being held for violent crimes or terrorism.

Under July's deal, Iran's nuclear activities will be severely constrained and remain under strict oversight for the next decade, but Tehran will then be able to scale up its production of nuclear fuel. The deal also freed four American held in Iranian custody.

Obama described the release of six Iranian-Americans and one Iranian charged in the United States as a "reciprocal, humanitarian gesture" that was a one-time event. It will still be nearly impossible for most U.S. businesses to set up a physical presence in Iran or partner with Iranian companies. Tehran has said it will carry on with the missile program despite the new USA sanctions. Among the those returning to the US were Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, who had been charged with espionage and three other serious crimes, including "collaborating with hostile governments" and "propaganda against the establishment".

Speaking to parliament yesterday, Rouhani, a pragmatic cleric elected in 2013 on promises to end Iran's years of sanctions and isolation, said he looked forward to an economic future less dependent on oil exports.

What the lifting of sanctions means for Iran and the Middle East.