Roundup: Iran says sanctions should be lifted "on same day" as deal signed

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stressed on Thursday that the world powers should remove all sanctions against the country on the same day as the potential nuclear deal is signed, according to the leader's official website.

To postpone the removal of sanctions to six months or one year is never acceptable, Khamenei said, adding that the talks with the powers over the country's nuclear issue was primarily aimed at lifting all sanctions at once upon the seal of the agreement.

The U.S.-released fact sheet about the results of the recent talks in the Swiss city of Lausanne is an "unreal and distorted" text and it will not be the criteria of action in the run for a possible nuclear agreement between Iran and the powers, Khamenei was quoted as saying.

The Iranian leader also said that he is neither for nor against the results of the recent nuclear talks in Lausanne of Switzerland, since "the Iranian officials say no work has been done yet and nothing is binding."

The agreement would be reached only if the details are revealed, he said, adding that "it is possible that the other party wants to set limits on us in details."

"What has been done so far neither guarantees the final agreement and its content nor the finality to the talks," he was quoted as saying.

"I have never been optimistic about the talks with the United States. Notwithstanding this, I agreed with these talks," he said, adding that he will agree with an agreement which secures the interests and the dignity of the nation.

"I have said that no deal is better than a bad deal since no agreement would be better than an agreement which ruins the interests and dignity of the nation," he was quoted as saying.

The Iranian leader cautioned the Iranian officials against any "hasty" decision on nuclear issue before the June 30 deadline, saying that the Iranian nuclear negotiators should be open to different opinions, even from their critics, and to discuss the details of the negotiations with them too.

The end-of-June deadline is not something "unchangeable," he said, adding that it can be extended as the other party did with the November deadline (last year) and extended it for another seven months.

The Iranian leader reiterated Iran's stance against the construction of a nuclear weapon, saying that "based on the Islamic teachings and wisdom, the Islamic republic has never been after acquiring a nuclear weapon and will never do so."

Moreover, Khamenei said that Iran will never accept "unusual monitoring" on its nuclear facilities and activities to be included in a potential nuclear deal.

"No unusual mechanisms of monitoring, which will make Iran unique in this regard, is acceptable. The monitoring (on Iran's nuclear activities) should be within the normal regulations underway in the world not beyond that."

On Thursday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani echoed supreme leader's words, saying that Iran will sign a nuclear deal with the major world powers only if sanctions against the country are lifted on the same day.

The world has understood that Iran will never surrender to sanction pressures over its nuclear rights and scientific developments, Rouhani said, adding that the solutions to Iran's nuclear issue reached in the latest meeting in the Lausanne of Switzerland is a proof to the point that Iran's nuclear establishments will never be shut down.

"We will not seal any (comprehensive) deal only if all the economic sanctions are lifted on the same day and on the same date," Rouhani said in a televised speech on the state TV on Thursday.

The Laussane talks were a step forward and the other steps will be taken to finalize a deal before the deadline by June 30, Rouhani said.

Representatives from Iran and the P5+1 group -- including the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China plus Germany -- last Thursday concluded the nine-day Iran nuclear talks in Lausanne of Switzerland and reached common solutions to outstanding issues in a run for a comprehensive deal by the end of June.

According to the solutions, Iran will have to cut its stocks of highly enriched uranium by 98 percent over a period of 15 years, while its unfinished Arak heavy water reactor will not produce weapons-grade plutonium.

Tehran will also reduce its number of centrifuges to 6,104 from around 19,000, roughly two-thirds of the whole amount.

In return, Iran will receive sanctions relief if it verifiably abides by its commitments. Endit