The diplomatic success of the nuclear negotiators engaged in talks with the major powers not only hinges on skills of the negotiating team, but more importantly on the empathy and rapport between the nation and the government, said President Hassan Rouhani.
At a meeting with top-level administration officials on Saturday on the occasion of the Iranian new year Nowruz, Rouhani said Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei gave the Iranian people the best gift by naming Iranian calendar year 1394 (started March 21) the year of "Government and Nation; Harmony and Unanimity."
"A blessing of this naming was the nuclear success achieved at the start of the new year as a result of empathy and rapport between the nation and the government," IRNA quoted the president as saying, referring to the recent negotiations in the Swiss city of Lausanne, which led to a framework agreement on the outline of a long-term nuclear deal.
Saying that Noruz is a combination of proper Iranian rituals and traditions with Islamic principles, he said Iranians have always started the new year in the name of God and visited each other, which are good and proper practices.
He described negotiations in the international arena as highly difficult and complicated and said the government has always asked the views of authorities of the two other branches of government.
He also said the government has enjoyed continuous and unwavering support of the people and the Leader's instructions, which have guided the diplomats throughout negotiations.
On the Lausanne talks, he said the negotiations stressed uranium enrichment inside the country, noting, "The fact that representatives of the Islamic Republic have sat (at the negotiating table) with the six major powers (the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) and defended (the country's) interests is a great achievement itself."
Finalizing a deal will pave the way for the implementation of the principles of the resistance economy, which have been laid down by the Leader, said the president, adding that concluding an initial agreement indicated that the major powers have come to the understanding that insisting on sanctions is not working any more.