Iran pursuing removal of sanctions through diplomacy: Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has reaffirmed the Islamic Republic’s resolve to pursue, through diplomacy, the removal of the unfair restrictions imposed on its economic sector over its peaceful nuclear activities.

On Sunday, President Rouhani criticized the illegal economic sanctions placed on Iran by the Western states and the UN Security Council over its nuclear program, saying such restrictions have been unjustly imposed on the Islamic Republic, and the country has resorted to diplomacy as a tool to bring about the removal of the bans.

The Iranian chief executive made the comments in an address to a ceremony marking the 33rd anniversary of the liberation of the strategic southwestern city of Khorramshahr from the occupation of Iraqi forces during the eight-year war on Iran in the 1980s.

The United States and the European Union have imposed several rounds of economic sanctions on Iran over peaceful nuclear program. Iran has repeatedly challenged the legality of the sanctions as the country has an exclusively peaceful nuclear program and has performed its obligations under the international treaties on nuclear activities.

Iranian diplomacy

The Islamic Republic and the P5+1 group of countries – the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China – have been holding talks to work out a comprehensive accord over Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities.

The two sides reached mutual understanding over the issue on April 2 in the Swiss city of Lausanne, but have been continuing negotiations in efforts to secure a final agreement by the end of June, a deadline set by the negotiating sides themselves.