DUBAI: President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday Iran would not give up what it sees as its right to enrich uranium in nuclear negotiations and said the Islamic Republic would not bow to ‘threats’ from anyone, Iranian media reported.
Following talks in Geneva that failed to clinch a deal to curb Tehran’s nuclear programme, Rouhani told lawmakers Iran had told its negotiating partners, “We will not answer to any threat, sanction, humiliation or discrimination.”
He did not elaborate on his reference to threats against Iran, but Tehran’s arch-foe Israel spoke out strongly against a proposed deal discussed at the Geneva talks.
Despite the failure of the talks yesterday, Iran and six world powers said differences had narrowed – a softening that may worry Iranian hardliners – and they would resume negotiations in 10 days to try to end the decade-old standoff.
“The Islamic Republic has not and will not bow its head to threats from any authority,” he said in a speech at the National Assembly, Iran’s student news agency (ISNA) said.
“For us there are red lines that cannot be crossed. National interests are our red lines that include our rights under the framework of international regulations and (uranium) enrichment in Iran,” he said.
Rouhani, who was elected in June, is the chief architect of Iran’s diplomatic drive for a nuclear deal to alleviate harsh economic sanctions on its oil and banking industries.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday denounced the contours of an accord leaked to the media, saying Tehran would be getting “the deal of the century” if world powers carried out proposals to grant Iran temporary respite from sanctions.
Israel, which is believed to have the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal and regards Iran as a mortal threat, has repeatedly suggested it may take military action against Tehran if it does not mothball its entire nuclear programme. (PTI)
