Iran says no to sanctions in N-talks

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the Islamic Republic will not accept humiliation or the continuation of sanctions during negotiations over its nuclear program.

“Sanctions are in contravention of human rights, and Iran will not accept imposition [of ideas], humiliation or the continuation of sanctions in negotiations [over its nuclear program],” Rouhani said in an address to crowds of people in the city of Qom to the south of the capital Tehran on Wednesday.

Rouhani described sanctions as unjust and said the Iranian nation has the right to development.

“The negotiating side should know that the Iranian nation will by no means stop treading the path towards scientific development,” the Iranian president said.

Rouhani stressed that all “illegal and cruel” sanctions against Iran must be removed in a final nuclear agreement.

Representatives from Iran and the United States started nuclear talks on Sunday in the Swiss city of Geneva. They held three rounds of negotiations in an attempt to narrow their differences.

Speaking to reporters in Geneva on Monday after the end of the talks, Iran foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said negotiators from Iran and the P5+1 countries – Britain, France, China, Russia, and the United States plus Germany – will resume their discussions in the Swiss city next week.