Iranians Welcome Historic Deal, Not Bowing to Pressures

A crowd of well-wishers hailed Iranian negotiators Friday as they returned to Tehran after agreeing the framework of a potentially historic nuclear deal with world powers, Iranian news agencies reported.

Several hundred people greeted Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his team as they left Tehran’s Mehr Abad airport after returning from the negotiations in Lausanne, the ISNA news agency reported.

“Viva Zarif! Viva Araghchi!” the crowd chanted, in reference to the minister and top negotiator Abbas Araghchi.

In brief remarks at the airport, Zarif praised the Islamic Revolution’s Supreme Leader Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei for “his remarkable support for the negotiating team and his guidance” in the talks, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Zarif further added that work remained to finalize the agreement before a June 30 deadline.

“This set of solutions will be the basis for writing a final document,” he said in the airport. Residents lined the streets as Zarif drove away from the airport, many carrying Iranian flags, with the minister emerging from the sunroof of his car and waving to the crowd.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has praised the Iranian people for their resistance and steadfastness during the course of the negotiations over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, saying that such conduct proved that the Iranian nation will not compromise on their interests.

“Through resistance and steadfastness, the people of Iran conveyed that they will never bow to pressure. The people of Iran show resistance in the face of pressures. One more thing is that Iranian people proved, as stated by Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Imam Sayyed Ali Khamenei], that they favor wisdom, negotiations, dialogue and constructive proposals,” Zarif told reporters following marathon talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne, where Iran and the P5+1 group of countries adopted a joint statement on Thursday night.

“They are great people, who are ready to scrutinize and watch out closely all the attitudes and how they are treated. So, those who have not left a good record behind can seize the chance to correct their past mistakes,” he added.
Zarif said the final agreement over Iran’s nuclear program will be based on the interests and requirements of the Iranian people, stressing that the United Nations Security Council will endorse such an accord into practice.

The top Iranian diplomat also criticized the West for its approach against Iran over the past years.

“Iran has been the victim of many, many broken promises in the past. We want to be sure that if promises are broken again, we will be safe, and our national interests will not be forgotten or compromised. That is why we have put an elaborate mechanism that will not allow excuses to simply lead to a reversal of the system, but provide the necessary confidence to all participants that they can continue with the implementation of the deal,” Zarif said.