Rouhani: Termination, Not Suspension, of Sanctions Agreed with World Powers

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed US officials’ claims that Tehran and the world powers have agreed on the suspension of the sanctions against Iran, reiterating that boycotts and embargos will be lifted forever under a final d

Rouhani "During the negotiations, we have always planned for the termination of the economic, financial and banking sanctions and we have never negotiated on their suspension, otherwise, no understanding would be made," Rouhani said on Sunday.

Stressing that good steps have been taken during the nuclear negotiations with the Group 5+1 (the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany), he said, "We will have a difficult path ahead in the stage of drafting the final deal."

Rouhani blasted certain countries which think that Iran's success equals to the country's hegemony over the region, and said, "The Islamic Republic of Iran has not and is not after aggression against another country and our contemporary history shows this reality, but we will defend our rights against anyone who seeks to violate the people's rights."

Also on Saturday, Iran's deputy lead negotiator Seyed Abbas Araqchi dismissed as "wrong interpretation" the recent statements made by US State Department's Spokeswoman Marie Harf about the Lausanne statement issued by Iran and the G5+1.

Harf said on Friday that "we expect for the anti-Iran sanctions suspension piece to happen generally within the first year, but again, if Iran takes these steps more quickly, then the suspension can come more quickly.” Harf added that "Iran will receive sanctions relief" only after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verifies that Tehran has taken steps to implement the "agreement reached in Lausanne, Switzerland on Thursday.

"This is a wrong impression about the Lausanne understanding," Araqchi told the state-run TV on Saturday. "The Lausanne statement explicitly states that the sanctions will be annulled; all nuclear-related economic and financial sanctions will be removed in the first stage," Araqchi stressed.

He said the contents of the White House factsheet about the Lausanne agreements are wrong, and the statements made by the (US State Department) spokeswoman are wrong too," Araqchi added.

He reiterated that economic sanctions and restrictions against Iran will be removed in the first stage of the implementation of the agreement. "And if the Americans have an impression other than this, well it will surely be the topic of negotiations in the next round of the talks," Araqchi added.

Fars news agency