Iran's Rouhani urges world powers to seize chance for nuclear deal

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the world powers on Tuesday to seize the opportunity as Tehran has taken major steps in the nuclear talks to reach a final deal.

"Alhough we haven't reached a final agreement yet, Iran is following nuclear negotiations seriously and good progress has been achieved so far," Rouhani was quoted as saying by official IRNA news agency.

"We have taken the necessary steps and now it is the other side's turn to seize the opportunity," said the Iranian president in a meeting with India's National Security Advisor Ajit Kumar Doval.

The Western powers have accused the Islamic Republic of having been developing atomic weapons under the cover of civilian nuclear plan. Iran rejected the allegations as baseless, and insisted that its nuclear program is solely peaceful.

Also, Rouhani urged the Iranians to actively participate in the rallies on Wednesday, marking the 36th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution, to show their all-out support for the Islamic establishment, according to semi-official Fars news agency.

"The February 11 is a day of national celebration and the Iranian nation's day," Rouhani said, adding that "undoubtedly, we can go through economic problems and the nuclear negotiations more easily with the high massive turnout of the Iranian nation in the February 11 rallies."

With the support of people, Iran will tackle all the issues more powerfully and will defend the nation's rights more easily at lower costs, he added.

The 1979 revolution in Iran toppled the U.S.-backed regime of Shah and brought the country under the leadership of Ayatollah Seyyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini, an event seen as a turning point in Iran 's history.

TALKS HALT FURTHER SANCTIONS

Also on Tuesday, Iran's First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri said, because of the nuclear talks between Iran and the world powers, no new sanctions were imposed on Tehran, according to a Press TV report.

Dismissing what he called earlier "illegal" sanctions against Iran over its sensitive nuclear program, Jahangiri said Iran has opened a path of dialogue and exchanges to settle the nuclear dispute with the West.

The senior Iranian official also said any nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group, including the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, must respect the country's rights for peaceful use of nuclear powers.

"We seek an agreement that observes the rights of the Iranian nation ..., and we have emphasized since the beginning (of the nuclear talks) that no deal is better than a bad one and we are not after a bad deal at all," Jahangiri said reiterating earlier remarks of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei said Sunday that no nuclear deal is better than a bad deal, as Iran and world powers gear up for an immediate deadline by the end of March.

"I agree with an agreement (on Iran's nuclear issue) ..., but no agreement is better than any agreement which undermines the interests of our nation," he said.

Iran agreed to suspend nuclear activities in return for limited ease of sanctions under an interim deal between Tehran and the P5+1 group on Nov. 24, 2013, pledging to reach a deal by July 2014.

After failing to bridge the gaps in 2014, both sides are committed to agreeing on a general framework of the potential deal by the end of March, before heading towards another self-imposed deadline for a final and comprehensive deal by July this year. Endit