Iranian president: Nuclear deal is the ‘right path’

Rouhani also held out the possibility of a prisoner exchange: “I don’t particularly like the word exchange, but from a humanitarian perspective, if we can take a step, we must do it”, he said. Over the past few months, almost everyone has weighed in from President Obama and the Congress, to Republican and Democratic presidential candidates to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, some of whose members have publicly criticized the deal, “will respect this agreement” once Iran approves it, Rouhani predicted.

He said the deal “creates limitations from all sides to getting an atomic bomb”, but does nothing to impair the peaceful development of nuclear energy technology. “I recommend you’ll find that we have consumed the initial actions leading to lessening this enmity”.

“The majority of our people, in opinion polls, have a positive view of the agreement”, he told CBS interviewer Steve Kroft.

In an interview with the CBS show “60 Minutes” broadcast Sunday in the United States, Rouhani said America was still distrusted in his country but that the deal would help mend ties.

Iran and the United States severed diplomatic ties in 1980 after a hostage crisis and Khamenei said last week that Iran would not hold any negotiations with Washington beyond the nuclear issue. “How can we fight the terrorists without the government staying?” he asked.

Esmaeili noted that the Iranian president will also attend a press conference to answer questions of media.

Critics of the deal in the US say it places too much trust in the Iranian regime to abide by the tenants of the agreement without granting global agencies sufficient oversight.