Iran to meet Rouhani timetable on ending sanctions - nuclear chief

Iran's head of the country's Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi speaks during a seminar at the Japan Institute of International Affairs in Tokyo, Japan, November 5, 2015. REUTERS/Yuya Shino

TOKYO (Reuters) - Iran will fulfil its commitments under the July nuclear agreement with major powers in time to have sanctions, that have crippled its economy, lifted by the end of the year, its atomic energy chief said on Thursday.

President Hassan Rouhani reaffirmed last week he expected sanctions to be lifted by year-end, paving the way for the return of the biggest economy to the global trading and financial system since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.