Iran calls for removal of 'oppressive' sanctions

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday called for removal of the "oppressive" western sanctions so that the country's economy can thrive.

If the sanctions are removed, capital would flow in and financial, environmental, industrial and employment issues would be solved, Rouhani was quoted as saying by Iranian IRIB TV.

He criticised the West for the imposition of sanctions on Iran, saying that "those who exerted sanctions on Iran made an oppressive move against the Iranian nation".

"These sanctions are like fever. At its early stage, the person says it is not important and does not care," Rouhani said, but when the fever intensifies and starts to affect the body, it is too late.

On Saturday, Iran's senior nuclear negotiator Abbas Araqchi said the ongoing talks were very difficult and complicated. "It is advancing very slowly."

On November 24, 2013, world powers and Iran reached an interim agreement on Teheran's nuclear programme, which demanded Iran suspend some sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for limited sanction relief to buy time for diplomatic efforts to resolve the issue.

Negotiators in early April agreed on a framework of understanding and set June 30 as a self-imposed deadline for reaching a final deal after missing the previous two deadlines in June and November last year.

Iran's nuclear programme has long been a subject of concern for Western powers, who believe it to be geared toward developing nuclear weapons. However, Iran has refuted the claims and insisted it has an inalienable right to develop its civilian nuclear plan.