Iran says sanction relief to take time

TEHRAN - Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Monday that nobody should expect sanction relief will take place in a short time.

"Removing the complicated Western sanctions requires enough time," Rouhani said, adding that "but it does not mean that we do not have any hope for a solution to the problems".

Talking to a number of Iranian lawmakers on Monday, Rouhani said "the Iranian government needs the people and the parliament's supports and the supreme leader's guidance in the course", according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

The Iranian new administration said earlier that the current economic problems in the country can be worked out if Iran's nuclear issue is solved through "constructive" negotiations with the world. The Islamic republic is under Western sanctions on its energy and financial sectors for its controversial nuclear program.

In the meantime, Iran's nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said Tehran has received no signal that the West would relieve its sanctions imposed against Iran, Press TV reported on Monday.

"Any initiative that does not ensure the easing of the sanctions is not acceptable to us," Araqchi was quoted as saying.

Araqchi, who is also Iran's deputy foreign minister for international and legal affairs, said during the recent rounds of negotiations between the representatives of Iran and the P5+1 - the United States, China, Russia, France and Britain plus Germany - in Vienna and Geneva, that the two sides "simply discussed their capabilities and facilities" during the talks, but "no agreement was reached between the two sides on the issues".

Iran and the P5+1 countries held a fresh round of talks in Geneva on October 15-16 and agreed to meet again in the Swiss city on Nov 7-8.

In his remarks on Sunday, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the Islamic republic is not optimistic about the ongoing nuclear talks with the major powers.

"As I have said earlier ... I am not optimistic about the nuclear talks," Khamenei said, adding that "but, with God's help, we will not suffer loss in the negotiations and this is an experience which will enhance the mental capacity of our nation."

Talking to a group of students, he was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency that "Nobody should think of our (nuclear) negotiating team as compromisers. They ... are on a hard mission and nobody should weaken" their position.

"If the negotiations bear fruits, so much the better. But, if there is no result, it means that the country should rely on itself," said the Iranian supreme leader.

However, Araqchi expressed hope on Monday that the upcoming nuclear meeting with the six major world powers in Geneva will bring together different negotiators' positions on Iran's nuclear program, Press TV reported.

The upcoming meeting will focus on the details of the steps proposed by Iran, Araqchi said, adding that "We have a tough road ahead. In Geneva, we will get into the details of the steps and we hope to bring closer the views of both sides, which are (currently) far apart."

Araqchi said there will be no changes in the composition of Iranian negotiating team and the team will head to Geneva on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif said Monday that he believes Iran's tactics and diplomacy in the talks about the country's nuclear program are on the right path, according to Press TV.

"What is seen in the international community indicates that Iran's ill-wishers have become isolated and that the Islamic republic has succeeded in playing its role more seriously and without compromise at an international level," Zarif was quoted as saying.