President Rouhani praises nuclear negotiators

President Hassan Rouhani has praised Iran’s nuclear team for their efforts in the ongoing talks with the P5+1 group as a senior Iranian negotiator says the main text for an agreement on Tehran’s nuclear program is almost complete.

“I am proud of the brave sons of the country in nuclear talks who will continue to defend our nation’s rights until the end,” President Rouhani said at a gathering of university professors in Tehran on Tuesday night.

Earlier in the night, senior Iranian negotiator Abbas Araghchi told reporters in Vienna that the draft of the agreement is almost finished, noting that the resolution of the remaining issues requires “political decisions” by the P5+1 group.

“The main text is almost complete, only a few paragraphs remain that require political decisions,” he said,  adding, “We have completed drafting as far as it was possible, and parts of the agreement and its annexes that are still between brackets are dependent upon decisions by ministers.”

He noted, “If ministers reach agreement on any of the issues, we will immediately negotiate on the required language and include it in the text.”

The head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, Ali Akbar Salehi, and the US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz are currently working on the annexes of the agreement, added Araghchi, the Iranian deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs.

“The annex on sanctions is around 95-96 percent done, only two or three small issues remain; the annex on peaceful nuclear cooperation with Iran is almost done; and various sectors for international cooperation have been determined,” he said.

He added that apart from two or three issues, the annex on joint commission is almost final. “The final annex is about the timeframe and timetable of the implementation on which we are still working because that depends on all issues being resolved.”

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Iran and the six countries missed an initial deadline of June 30 and all parties agreed on a new, July 7. However, the negotiators agreed to extend the deadline until Friday, July 10.