Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called remarks by the country's foreign minister as a "big mistake", a week after audio emerged of the minister criticised the military's influence on diplomacy.
President Rouhani, who is approaching the end of his second and final term, stated that the audio leak was timed to sow discord in Iran, just as the Vienna talks were "at the height of their success".
Iran’s move to enrich uranium up to 60% purity is a response to the sabotage at its key nuclear facility, President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, adding the Islamic Republic had no intention of building a nuclear weapon.
"There is good ground for a production leap," Khamenei said, adding that the government needed to get rid of any legal obstacles to production and growth.
Khamenei said the new year of 1400 is "an important and sensitive" one because of the upcoming presidential election in June.
"Foreign vaccines are a necessity until local vaccines are available," Rouhani said in televised remarks, without giving details of what foreign vaccines would be used.
"There have been good movements in the field of local and foreign vaccines," Rouhani said.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani urged the incoming U.S. administration on Wednesday to return to a 2015 nuclear agreement and lift sanctions on Tehran, while welcoming the end of “tyrant” President Donald Trump’s era.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who takes office on Wednesday, has said the United States will rejoin the pact, which includes restrictions on Iran’s nuclear work, if Tehran resumes strict compliance.
In May 2019, four vessels - including two Saudi oil tankers - were attacked off the UAE coast near Fujairah, one of the world's largest bunkering hubs, just outside the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, who will take office on Jan. 20, has said that he would return to the pact and would lift sanctions if Tehran returned to “strict compliance with the nuclear deal”