President Hassan Rouhani has said that there is no alternative to negotiations to find a settlement to the dispute over Tehran's nuclear program and that anti-Iran sanctions have failed to produce any results.
Rouhani also stated "major progress" has been made in nuclear talks with the major powers, adding, "But all issues that have been raised over the past twelve years cannot be resolved overnight and we are required to take greater steps."
The president made the remarks in a cabinet session on Wednesday two days after returning from a tour that took him to New York to attend the UN General Assembly and the Russian city of Astrakhan to take part in the 4th summit of the Caspian Sea littoral states. "We are required to take advantage of opportunities in international relations… in various meetings with officials, executives, and investors (on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly), they unanimously said Tehran's nuclear issue should be resolved as soon as possible so that they would be able to invest in and do business with Iran," IRNA quoted him as saying.
Rouhani added most of the countries attending the annual session of the UN General Assembly called for constructive interaction with Iran. The annual UN meeting was an appropriate platform for presenting Tehran's views on major regional and international issues, he said.
"We managed to take the full advantage of both the main annual session and its sideline events," he added.
Caspian Summit Productive
Rouhani described his meetings with heads of state of Caspian Sea littoral states as "productive" and "positive".
"We discussed regional security and the necessity to prevent arms race and militarization of the region."
The parties also agreed to Iran's proposal for the establishment of an office to coordinate the exchange of data between littoral states and the campaigns against terrorism and drug smuggling, he said, adding, an agreement was also made concerning the territorial waters of each country and exclusive fishing zones.
On the legal status of the Caspian Sea, the president stressed, "Iran had signed two treaties with the former Soviet Union over the legal regime of the Caspian Sea in 1921 and 1940 both of which shall remain effective until they will be replaced with new regulations."
