Iran nuclear negotiators awarded medals

Iran has awarded medals of honor to its nuclear negotiators who helped clinch a landmark deal with world powers last year.

President Hassan Rouhani awards the “Medal of Merit” to Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and the “Medal of Courage” to Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan and Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who is also the country’s nuclear chief.

“We passed behind us difficult days, difficult hours and nights,” Rouhani says at the ceremony. “But we did not lose the right path and God did not leave us alone.”

He also praises Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran.

“Without the Supreme Leader, there was no national unity. Without the Supreme Leader, our (nuclear) accomplishment would have not been as great as it is today and maybe we would not have had such an achievement,” he says.

Upon receiving his medal, Zarif says Iranian unity forced the world to freeze sanctions and respect the country.

“What helped the team of nuclear negotiators to fulfill such duty was the Iranian nation’s vigilance and resistance, which paralyzed the weapon of sanctions and forced the world’s big powers to respect (Iran),” Zarif says, according to the Iranian Tasnim news agency.

— with AP