"More sanctions would only result in more centrifuges," Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said in reference to Iran's steady progress in installing thousands of centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium over the past few years, despite the fact that the country has been under economic sanctions, Iran's YJC news agency reported on Jan. 28 referring the Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper.
He also went on to say that the Geneva nuclear deal is a great success for his country.
"For one decade there was only one image in the West's mind, that there is only one option, that is, zero enrichment, and that Iran's uranium enrichment must be stopped," he maintained.
Zarif further asserted "Although with delay, the US has now come to realize that it will not succeed in reaching such an objective. President Obama said that although he would have liked zero enrichment in Iran, he had not come to see it come true. President Rouhani put it in other words, saying 'Americans had one understanding and now they must admit the truth, the truth of Iran's uranium enrichment.'"
Rejecting reports about a secret agreement in 30 pages, the Iranian FM stated "There is the agreement that is being enacted. If the entire agreement does not lead to a positive outcome, it will not be the end of the world. That means that Americans think that more sanctions help the trend. Beside enraging the Iranian nation, the impact of the sanctions has more than anything been the fact that our enrichment facilities have carried on. Sanctions did not prevent the installation of 19 thousand centrifuges in Iran."