Nuclear talks stem further sanctions on Iran: VP

TEHRAN - No new sanctions were imposed on Tehran because of the nuclear talks between Iran and the world powers that have run for one year and a half, Iran's First Vice President Es'haq Jahangiri was quoted as saying by Press TV on Tuesday.

Dismissing what he called earlier "illegal" sanctions against Iran over its sensitive nuclear program, Jahangiri said Iran has opened a path of dialogue and exchanges to settle the nuclear dispute with the West.

The senior Iranian official also said any nuclear agreement between Iran and the P5+1 group, including the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany, must respect the country's rights for peaceful use of nuclear powers.

"We seek an agreement that observes the rights of the Iranian nation ..., and we have emphasized since the beginning (of the nuclear talks) that no deal is better than a bad one and we are not after a bad deal at all," Jahangiri said reiterating earlier remarks of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei said Sunday that no nuclear deal is better than a bad deal, as Iran and world powers gear up for an immediate deadline by the end of March.

"I agree with an agreement (on Iran's nuclear issue) ..., but no agreement is better than any agreement which undermines the interests of our nation," he said.

Iran agreed to suspend nuclear activities in return for limited ease of sanctions under an interim deal between Tehran and the P5+1 group on Nov. 24, 2013, pledging to reach a deal by July 2014.

After failing to bridge the gaps in 2014, both sides are committed to agreeing on a general framework of the potential deal by the end of March, before heading towards another self-imposed deadline for a final and comprehensive deal by July this year.

The Western powers have imposed rounds of diverse sanctions on Iran, accusing the Islamic Republic of having been developing atomic weapons under the cover of civilian nuclear plan. Iran rejected the allegations as baseless, and insisted that its nuclear program is solely peaceful.