Rouhani: US must rectify wrong approach on nuclear talks

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the US should rectify its wrong approach vis-à-vis negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program.

“It is the Americans that should try to rectify the wrong steps they have taken [towards the Iranian nuclear issue],” Rouhani told reporters in the central Iranian city of Qom on Thursday.

The US was behind the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear work as it prevented Iran and the three European countries – Britain, France and Germany – from reaching a nuclear agreement at the end of 2004, Rouhani said.

Iran is seeking the removal of sanctions against the country through nuclear talks with P5+1, the president noted.

“We seek to take away the tool of sanctions from the enemy through negotiations because sanctions are unjust, cruel and in contravention of human rights, and to that end, talks are the best way,” he said.

Even if the ongoing nuclear talks fail to lead to an agreement, said Rouhani, the world community will know that the opposite side is to blame.

American officials have admitted and told Congress that if they fail in nuclear talks with Iran, they will be isolated, Rouhani added.

Representatives from Iran and the United States started nuclear talks earlier this week 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’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said negotiators from Iran and P5+1 – Britain, France, China, Russia, and the United States plus Germany – will resume their discussions in the Swiss city next week.

Iran and the six world powers have missed two deadlines so far to reach a nuclear agreement since an interim deal was sealed in November 2013. The two sides have set July 1 as the next deadline for reaching a final deal.