“Not only nuclear energy, but also nuclear technology and even [uranium] enrichment are our inalienable rights. In addition, we have every right to progress and development,” Rouhani said in a ceremony in Tehran on Saturday marking national Student’s Day.
He further stressed the importance of improving the Iranian people’s livelihoods and welfare, adding it is necessary to get the illegal sanctions against Iran lifted.
“Through logic and reasoning, and by reliance on our ideals and the absolute rights of the Iranian nation, we should open the gates that others intend to shut against us,” the president stated.
He pointed to the recent deal reached between Iran and six major world powers in the Swiss city of Geneva over Tehran’s nuclear energy program and said the agreement “dealt a blow to Zionism.”
All of Iran’s regional allies are very pleased with the Geneva deal while certain countries which have turned a blind eye to their long-term interests are unhappy with the deal like the Tel Aviv regime, said the president.
On November 24, Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Russia, China, France, Britain and the United States -- plus Germany sealed an interim agreement in the Swiss city of Geneva to pave the way for the full resolution of the West’s decade-old dispute with Iran over its nuclear energy program.
As part of the deal, some of the existing sanctions against the Islamic Republic would be lifted in exchange for Iran’s confidence-building move to limit certain aspects of its nuclear activities.
Rouhani emphasized that his administration honors all the pledges it has made to the people, and added, “We need national consensus to achieve our objectives.”
He noted that Iran has played a key role in fending off a new war in the region, including in Syria.
“Iran, Russia and many regional countries such as Iraq, Lebanon and other states played a very effective role in averting a destructive war,” he said.
The Iranian chief executive emphasized that big countries now have no option, but to take Iran’s power into account in order to settle regional issues.
Rouhani also stressed the importance of getting a better understanding of national, regional and international potentialities “because we want to have a positive and constructive interaction with the world.”
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