Erstellt am: 18. 1. 2016 - 17:19 Uhr

Iran, post sanctions

What will this new era mean for Iranians? Jörg Winter explains more on Reality Check.

After some 12 years of crippling sanctions, Iran is set to be welcomed back into the world's joint economy. Trading can be resumed between most of the world's western nations and Tehran. Goods can be bought and exchanged over international borders and, for example, the county can raise money on international stock markets for upgrading oil pipeline systems.

An Iranian woman walks past a wall painted with graffitis on a street of a southwestern district of the capital Tehran.

I spoke with Middle East correspondent Jörg Winter for more on what's going on, now that the IAEA has given the all-clear to Iran fulfilling its international nuclear agreements. And I asked him to remind us again about the kinds of sanctions that had been imposed on Iran, and what’s going to change now that they’ve been lifted

The aid group Oxfam says the wealthiest one percent of people globally now have as much wealth as the rest of the population combined, while the 62 richest people now control as much wealth as the poorest half of the global population. In a new report the charity claims the wealth gap has widened significantly over the past year, and calls on governments to do more to tackle inequality. So we got in touch directly with Oxfam to tell us more.

President Heinz Fischer has urged Freedom Party leader Heinz Christian Strache to quote "hit the stop button immediately" following controversial comments made by him during a New Year's speech in Wels. Strache reportedly called Chancellor Werner Faymann, a public enemy and an enemy of the people and of Austria. In a Statement, President Fischer said there was no reason for using such language in a peaceful and democratic country like Austria. So we spoke with political scientist Reinhard Heinisch, from the University of Salzburg, and asked if he was suprised that the president is getting involved in politics.

Meanwhile, Heinz Fischer will soon be leaving office, and so far there are four candidates for the presidential elections in April. They are Rudolf Hundstorfer from the SPÖ, Andreas Khol from the ÖVP, the Greens' Alexander van der Bellen and independent candidate Irmgard Griss.
We asked political commentator, Dr Melanie Sully, what could be different this time round.

Some Austrian companies have been named as major investors in a wave of hydropower projects across national parks and environmentally-protected regions in the Balkans. Ulrich Eichelmann, is director of the Austrian NGO River Watch, and he told us about some of his concerns here.