Brussels, 09/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 9 April, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani stated that his country wanted all economic sanctions to be lifted the day the agreement on the Iranian nuclear programme is applied, although US President Barack Obama said on 2 April that the lifting would be gradual as Iran took steps to come into line with the agreement.
“We will not sign any agreement if the economic sanctions are not totally annulled the same day the agreement is applied”, said Rouhani during a speech on Iran's national day for nuclear technology. In the view of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, “all sanctions should be removed just when the deal is reached”. “If sanctions removal depends on another process then why did we start to talk?” he asked in a speech.
Catherine Ray, the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, said on 7 April that the sanctions would be lifted once the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had checked that Iran's commitments had been implemented. This could take several months after an agreement has been made.
Khamenei stated that the agreement obtained on 2 April did not guarantee the signing of a final agreement by 30 June. “What's been done so far secures neither the main deal nor its contents, nor is it even clear when talks will bear fruit and lead to a deal”, he said. He added that “everything is in the detail, it may be that the other side, which is unfair, wants to limit our country in the details.” (Camille-Cerise Gessant)