Rouhani Hits Back at Criticism of Nuclear Team

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threw his weight behind the country’s diplomats engaged in nuclear talks with six world powers, saying unfair objections raised by critics go counter to the national interests.
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Addressing a cultural ceremony in Tehran on Saturday, President Rouhani said the team of nuclear negotiators, comprised of experienced diplomats, has brought honor to the country.
“Today, we should be proud of our brave diplomats” that hold “legal, political and technical” discussions with six world powers as part of negotiations on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, the president said.
Rouhani said the critics that only find faults with the Iranian negotiators are indeed undermining the country’s national interests in the name of political leanings and parties.
His comments came after mounting criticism at Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif for taking a walk with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva streets.
On January 14, Zarif and Kerry, who were in Geneva for talks on Iran’s peaceful nuclear program, got out of the building for a joint stroll through downtown Geneva.
Iran and the Group 5+1 (Russia, China, the US, Britain, France and Germany) are in talks to hammer out a final agreement to end more than a decade of impasse over Tehran’s peaceful nuclear program.