Tehran won't sign deal without end to sanctions

President Rouhani: Iran won't sign final nuclear deal unless all sanctions lifted

RT,

9 April, 2015

Iranian President said Tehran won’t sign a final nuclear deal unless economic sanctions against the country are lifted first. The comments contradict Washington’s statement that sanctions would be lifted gradually, subject to Iran compliance.

"We will not sign any deal unless all sanctions are lifted on the same day ... We want a win-win deal for all parties involved in the nuclear talks," Rouhani said in a televised speech on Thursday.

READ MORE: Tehran and world powers reach solutions on Iran nuclear program

The President's comments come as a blow to US President Barack Obama’s efforts to sell the deal to its opponents, both in the US and abroad.

Supporters of the deal, which was negotiated last week at marathon talks in Switzerland and is to be finalized in June, say the sanctions relief for Iran would be gradual, and implemented in response to Iran’s moves to scale down its nuclear program. They could be reversed in case of non-compliance, they argue. Obama has called the plan the best deal possible at the moment.

READ MORE: Iranian president: World powers accept Tehran's right to enrich uranium

The UN Security Council, the US, the EU and several other countries had imposed several rounds of sanctions against Iran due to its controversial nuclear program.

Lifting of the sanctions in exchange for a scaling-down of nuclear enrichment activities and a degree of international control over the Iranian nuclear industry is at the core of the deal. Agreeing exact terms on how quickly the sanctions will be lifted and how the program will be curtailed was a tough task for the nuclear negotiators.

READ MORE: EU reinstates sanctions on major Iranian bank & 32 shipping companies

Previously, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif questioned on his Twitter account the statements from Western leaders that claimed the sanctions would be lifted gradually.

Javad Zarif        ✔ @JZarif

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Iran/5+1 Statement: "US will cease the application of ALL nuclear-related secondary economic and financial sanctions." Is this gradual?

9:44 AM - 3 Apr 2015

Javad ZarifVerified account ‏@JZarif

Iran/5+1 Statement: "US will cease the application of ALL nuclear-related secondary economic and financial sanctions." Is this gradual?

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1:44 PM - 2 Apr 2015

Iran will sign final nuclear deal only if sanctions lifted: Rouhani (Reuters)

This is what CNN is saying -

Tom Cotton: Bombing Iran would take 'several days'

A U.S. military campaign against Iran's nuclear facilities would only take "several days" of bombing, Sen. Tom Cotton said Tuesday.

Cotton, the Arkansas Republican freshman who has emerged as a leading critic of President Barack Obama's effort to strike a deal to thwart Iran's nuclear ambitions, told the Family Research Council's Washington Watch radio that Obama's assertion that the alternative to the pact is war is a "false choice."