Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 11
By Umid Niayesh - Trend:
Iran will defend its independency at the negotiation table with the P5+1 as it did during the eight years of war with Iraq (1980-1988), the Islamic Republic president Hassan Rouhani said.
The administration will spare no effort to protect the Iranian nation's rights in foreign policy, Rouhani said, according to the country's state IRINN TV report Feb. 11.
The Iranian president made the remarks while addressing thousands of people in Tehran, whom were participating in a ceremony marking the 36th anniversary of the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Rouhani emphasized that all Iranians including Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei support the country's nuclear negotiating team.
"All Iranians support the country's diplomats in diplomacy's frontline as they did during the Iran-Iraq war," Rouhani said.
There is no greater betrayal than treason behind the frontline, Rouhani said, adding, "differences in viewpoints are natural, but all of us are united to protect national interests."
He also said that only enemies of the Islamic Republic including Israel are against the nuclear negotiations.
Rouhani added that Iran follows a win-win agreement, in which Tehran provides transparency in its peaceful nuclear activities within the framework of international rules, and the other party removes all of the "illegal" sanctions.
He also said that the both sides would benefit from lifting the sanctions against Iran.
Rouhani also rejected the idea that the Islamic Republic has entered the nuclear talks only as a result of the sanctions' pressure, rather Iran has involved itself in the nuclear talks to protect the region's peace and stability, he added.
Iran and the P5+1 (the US, the UK, Russia, China, France and Germany) group have extend their negotiations to reach a comprehensive nuclear deal, with the aim of reaching a high-level political agreement by 1 March, and confirming the full technical details of the agreement by July 1.
After the sides failed to meet the November 24, 2014 deadline they also extended the Geneva nuclear deal, which was signed in November 2013 to provide Iran with some sanctions relief in exchange for Tehran agreeing to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.
The US and its Western allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon - something that Iran denies.
Edited by CN