Rouhani demands lifting of sanctions before final nuclear deal signed

Iran will only sign a final nuclear deal if all sanctions are lifted on the same day, President Hassan Rouhani said on Thursday.

“We want a win-win deal for all parties involved in the nuclear talks," Rouhani said during a televised speech.

Iran and six world powers including the US reached a landmark agreement last week that would see Tehran's nuclear capabilities severely restricted in return for a lifting of the economic sanctions that have stifled Iran’s growth for decades.

Under the announced deal, Iran would be limited to just one active nuclear plant, and would agree not to enrich uranium, the crucial component in producing weapons, beyond a low level for at least 15 years.

Despite positivity from Iran and the Western powers when the deal was announced, with US President Barack Obama saying the deal would “make our world safer,” it appears that the parties involved have different interpretations about the implementation of the agreement.

Iran marked its National Day of Nuclear Technology on Thursday with televised speeches from President Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who stressed that nuclear production is a “necessity” for the country.

Iran has always maintained that it needs nuclear facilities for energy production, while Western powers have sought to scale back its capabilities amid fears that it could be producing a nuclear weapon.

"Our main gain in the talks was the fact that US President Barack Obama acknowledged that Iranians will not surrender to bullying, sanctions and threats," Rouhani said.

"It is a triumph for Iran that the first military power in the world has admitted Iranians will not bow to pressure."

Since 2012, sanctions imposed by the US and EU cut off Iranian oil exports to the tune of nearly 1.5 mn barrels per day, equivalent to a 60 percent drop in its oil exports.

Khamenei warned on Thursday that the framework agreement reached in the Swiss lakeside town of Lausanne last week was no guarantee that a final deal will be reached by 30 June, the deadline set during the recent negotiations.

"What has been done so far does not guarantee an agreement, nor its contents, nor even that the negotiations will continue to the end," Khamenei said on his official website.

In a speech delivered later on Thursday, the country’s top religious cleric said that, while he supported the Iranian negotiators, he feared that the other parties involved were “into lying and breaching promises”.

“No deal is preferable to a deal that goes against Iran’s interests and dignity”.