By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iranian president says that Saudi Arabia should understand the regions' circumstances.
"They should understand that the best solution for the region is warding off terrorists, Hassan Rouhani said in a live TV interview which broadcasted on state TV Channel 1 on April 29.
He went on to say that if Saudi Arabia does that, problems between the two countries will be resolved.
Relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia have been strained. Both Saudi Arabia and Iran have aspirations of taking the leadership role in the region, yet the two countries are poles apart politically.
While Iran is supporting the Lebanese Shiaa Movement Hezbollah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Saudi Arabia is a key supporter of the Syrian opposition.
Saudi Arabia's concerns over Iran are mainly related to its plans of expanding influence to other parts of the Gulf region as well as a disagreement over Iran's nuclear program.
Commenting on the U.S.-Iran relations Rouhani said that problems between the two countries cannot be resolved in a short period.
"However, I believe that we should take steps to decrease tensions in relations with countries which we have problems, as we have done in recent months," he underlined.
Iran can resolve its problems with the world, Rouhani said.
The president also noted that détente policy towards the world is his administration's priority and will be continued.
He also criticized the international sanctions against Iran, saying that the sanctions hurt both Iranian people and the global community.
He further expressed hope that all sanctions against Iran, including those by UN will be removed by a final nuclear accord.
He also underlined that cracks in sanctions regime have started due to his administration's foreign policy.
The sanctions put down the transparency in the economy, Rouhani said, adding that some people benefit sanctions.
"Those who enriched themselves via sanctions are opposing the administration's policies and promoting anti-government propaganda," he remarked.
Rouhani also expressed support of Iranian nuclear negotiating team and the process of the negotiations.
He stated that the nuclear talks has entered to its final step and if the western side respect the international rules and Iranian people's rights, comprehensive nuclear accord will be achieved in a short time.
The U.S. and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies. The Islamic Republic has on numerous occasions stated that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical research instead.
Iran and the P5+1(the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany) signed a six-month interim nuclear deal on Jan. 20 and are continuing their talks to reach a final agreement to fully resolve the decade-old dispute over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.