FILE - In this Tuesday, July 28, 2015, file photo, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif speaks with media in a joint press conference with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Tehran, Iran. Iran's foreign minister says an imminent report by the U.N. nuclear agency later Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, will bring a 'good day' for Iran because it will lead to lifting sanctions. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File )
VIENNA — The latest developments as Iran and world powers prepare to implement a landmark deal reached last year to curb Iran's nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions (all times local).
3:30 p.m.
Iranian state television says the government has freed four dual-nationality prisoners.
The report Saturday did not identify the prisoners but it comes amid speculation that jailed Washington Post bureau chief Jason Rezaian, a dual Iran-U.S. citizen convicted of espionage in a closed-door trial in 2015, could be among them.
The report by the semi-official ISNA news agency quotes a statement from the Tehran prosecutor's office as saying the inmates were freed "within the framework of exchanging prisoners," without elaborating.
The U.S. would not immediately confirm the Iranian report. But the family of one of the U.S prisoners received unofficial word from Iran that their relative was being released today, according to a person close to that family.
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11:20 a.m.
The EU's top diplomat has met with Iran's foreign minister for talks on implementing the nuclear deal between Tehran and six world powers, as the U.N. atomic agency works on a report certifying that Iran has met its commitments under the accord.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will join Federica Mogherini of the European Union and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Vienna, the headquarters of the U.N's International Atomic Energy Agency, later Saturday.
IAEA certification that Iran is honoring its obligations would trigger sanctions relief for Iran worth an estimated $100 billion.
Under the July 14 deal between Iran and six world powers, Tehran Iran agreed to crimp programs it could use to make nuclear weapons in return for an end to international nuclear-related sanctions
Iran says it has no interest in such arms.
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11:15 a.m.
Iranian hard-liners are accusing moderate President Hassan Rouhani of "burying" the country's nuclear program as Tehran and world powers are on the verge of implementing a historic nuclear accord.
Under the front-page headline "Nuclear Burial," Hard-line daily Vatan-e-Emrooz on Saturday criticized the removal of the core of Iran's only heavy water reactor, which was filled in with cement earlier this week as one of the final steps under the agreement.
The Javan daily says filling in the reactor is "hurting national pride."
It says the Iranian people hope that the "bitterness of filling the Arak reactor with cement will be accompanied with the sweetness of filling their table," referring to the lifting of crippling international sanctions.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif earlier said that the imminent release of a U.N. compliance report would trigger "Implementation Day," with Iran receiving billions in sanctions relief in return for limiting its nuclear activities.
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10:40 a.m.
Iran's foreign minister says an imminent compliance report by the U.N. nuclear agency will trigger the implementation of the historic nuclear accord reached with world powers last year, bringing a "good day" for Iran.
Mohammad Javad Zarif says the report will mark "Implementation Day," when world powers provide Iran with billions of dollars in sanctions relief in exchange for it curbing its nuclear program.
Speaking in Vienna on Saturday, where he was to meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and top EU diplomat Federica Mogherini, Zarif called for greater cooperation to fight the "terrorism and extremism" that has engulfed the Middle East. His comments were broadcast on state TV.
By The Associated Press - Jan. 16, 2016 9:38 AM EST 
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