"The goal of the nuclear talks was fully brought under the spotlight in the (November 2013) Geneva agreement (between Iran and the Group 5+1 - the US, Russia, China, Britain and France plus Germany): Iran's nuclear program will always remain peaceful and the sanctions and restrictions unjustly imposed on the Iranian people will be removed concurrently," Zarif said in a joint press conference with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Tehran on Sunday.
Stressing that Iran is ready to show the needed flexibility to assure the G5+1 of the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, he said, "What is important is that the western states, specially the US, come to this understanding that the era of sanctions is gone and that sanctions benefit no one and will not in future either."
Zarif called on the US to give up its "passion for the sanctions (policy) and I believe that an agreement is fully within reach with such a political will," Zarif said.
In relevant remarks on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stressed the necessity for the annulment of all sanctions against the country, and dismissed the US officials' claims that Tehran has sit to the negotiating table with powers under pressures and sanctions.
"Those who state that Iran has come to the negotiations due to sanctions are uttering lies; Iran has sit to the negotiating table not as a result of pressures but for the sake of logic and for the establishment of peace in the region and the world," Rouhani said, addressing millions of people participating in the February 11 rallies marking the 36th anniversary of the victory of the Islamic Revolution in Tehran and other cities.
He asked the western officials if their claims that Iran had sit to the negotiating table due to sanctions were true, then why they didn’t impose further embargos on the nation and had resorted to talks with Tehran, instead.
"Speak honestly and admit that you have been left with no other option against the Iranian nation but interaction, and say it to the world out loud that if you intend to establish peace and stability and uproot terrorism in the Middle-East region, you have no way out but (to interact with) the Islamic Republic," Rouhani underscored.
Stressing that Iran was after a win-win understanding with the world powers, Rouhani said, "This means that if Iran shows transparency in its peaceful nuclear program within the framework of the international regulations, the other side should also end the illegal sanctions and this will benefit both sides."
Also on Tuesday, the Iranian president said the world powers needed to show that they were resolved to strike a final deal with Iran if they really intended to end the nuclear standoff.
Addressing a meeting with the foreign diplomatic corps in Tehran, President Rouhani underlined Iran's policy of constructive interaction with the world countries, and said, "It is in light of the same policy that we have opted for constructive talks and the political settlement of this case by the two sides."
The Iranian president pointed said Iran had been seeking a win-win solution to its nuclear standoff with the West, and added, "We have shown the needed flexibility for the political settlement of this case in the past months and we hope that our negotiating parties show the needed will for settling the issues more than before, and if this happens, the differences over a set of issues will be resolved in a short time."
In a landmark speech last week, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei complained that the behavior of the Americans and their European allies in the negotiations is illogical as they expect all their excessive demands to be met, "but this is not the way of negotiation".
Ayatollah Khamenei approved of the Iranian officials' standing up to the other side's excessive demands, and said, "The Islamic ruling system acts on a logical basis in the nuclear talks, but the other side has no logic and is pursuing irrationality by relying on bullying."
The Supreme Leader reiterated that the Iranian nation will not tolerate bullying, excessive demands and illogical behavior.
The 10th round of negotiations between Iran and the six world powers was held in Vienna from November 18 to 24, where the seven nations decided to extend the talks until July after they failed to strike an agreement. The seven nations continued their talks in February.
Both Iran and the G5+1 negotiators have underlined that cutting a final deal before the July 10 deadline is possible.
