Baku, Azerbaijan, May 24
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has called for national unity to achieve victory in the country's disputed nuclear case, while addressing the people on the occasion of the liberation of Khorramshahr, Iran's IRIB State TV reported on May 24.
Rouhani called the country's nuclear issue a "second Khorramshahr" in which Iranian diplomats are resisting against the western powers.
Iran annually celebrates May 24 as the anniversary of the recapture of the Khorramshahr port city from the Iraqis in 1982 during the Iran-Iraq War.
"We we will not permit enemies to neglect our peaceful nuclear rights," Rouhani said. " We want no more than our rights in the nuclear issue."
Iran should repeat its victory in the Khoramshahr battle again in its history, he said, adding that under the leadership of the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and with national unity, the victory is possible.
The president noted that Iran is negotiating with P5+1 within the framework of "logic and reasoning," expressing hope on the success of the negotiations.
Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - the U.S., China, Russia, France and the UK - plus Germany wrapped up their latest round of high-level nuclear talks in the Austrian capital Vienna on May 16 without any result.
Tehran and the six countries have been discussing ways to iron out differences and start drafting a final deal on Tehran's disputed nuclear program.
In November 2013, the two sides signed an interim nuclear deal in the Swiss city of Geneva that came into force on January 20.
The deal (the Joint Plan of Action), which came into force on January 20, stipulates that over the course of six months, Iran and the six countries will draw up a comprehensive nuclear deal which will lead to a lifting of all the sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
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.