A brand new interview will appear tomorrow morning with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in which the leader says that abiding by the nuclear deal is a “religious duty” for his country. NPR news scooped the interview with Iranian President Rouhani and segments of it were released this morning on NPR’s Weekend Edition . Steve Inskeep’s full interview will air tomorrow on NPR’s Morning Edition.
When the Iranian President was asked about growing skepticism over whether or not nuclear inspectors would be allowed onto Iranian military bases, Rouhani responded with the “religious duty” comment.
“Well, my country, my nation, if it accepts an agreement, if it signs an agreement, if it gives its commitment to live up to the terms of an agreement, it will certainly do so. In Iran, throughout the history of Iran, whenever, whether it was a financial economic agreement or a security agreement, anything that Iran has signed up to it has always lived up to. We have never broken our commitment. This is our cultural framework. This is our comportment. This is our religious duty.”
Rouhani was also asked about Jason Rezaian, a Washington Post journalist that is currently being held prisoner in Iran.
“…my advice that I give on a daily basis, on a continuous basis, to the judiciary, is never about a specific individual. I have given different sets of advice. And I do believe that the prisoners who have dual citizenship – even though, let’s remember that according to the laws of my country, my nation, we do not accept dual citizenship – however I have proposed that the folks who have dual citizenship and are in Iran, the government must render all possible aid in resolving their issues, and, simultaneously, there would be a natural expectation from the United States government to take reciprocal actions in order to carry forward the same legal files of the Iranians who have been unfairly incarcerated here.”
The Iranian President was also asked whether or not he think that there is anything that can be done to help in resolving the crisis in Syria.
“It’s not that we are indifferent. We do care about the situation in Syria. We do worry about the people of Syria. We do worry and our hearts bleed for so many people that are killed on a daily basis that driven from their homes. And you do know that archeological and cultural remains in Syria have been destroyed on an almost daily basis by the terrorists, so all of this worries us. Iran has always and will continue to do everything it can to create stability and security and return it to Syria.”
The full interview with Iranian President Rouhani airs tomorrow morning on NPR’s Morning Edition.
[Photo by John Moore/Getty Images]
