Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has pledged that his nation will abide by its commitments in the "historic" nuclear agreement reached in Switzerland, declaring that the deal opens a "new page" for the country. <br />In a televised address on Friday, Rouhani said a final agreement would depend on both sides living up to their commitments. <br />"If the other side honours its promises, we will honour our promises," he said, a day after Iran and five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britian, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany - clinched a tentative framework for a nuclear deal. <br />Rouhani's speech came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a fierce opponent of the deal, issued a statement on Friday demanding that any final nuclear agreement with Iran must include a commitment from Tehran recognising Israel's right to exist. <br />"Israel demands that any final agreement with Iran will include a clear and unambiguous Iranian commitment of Israel's right to exist," he said. <br />"Israel will not accept an agreement which allows a country that vows to annihilate us to develop nuclear weapons, period." <br />With a June 30 deadline and hard details about the lifting of sanctions against Iran standing in the way of a historic accord with western powers, Rouhani on Friday sought to shore up support for the possible deal. <br />"In the framework that we have before us we can see that this government's approach was effective. <br />"New cooperation with the world - both in the nuclear sphere and other areas - will open a new page" for Iran, he said. <br />"Some think we should either fight with the world or give in to the global powers," Rouhani said, calling instead of a "third way" of engaging internationally and praising the work of his negotiating team in Switzerland. <br />Rouhani also said that Iranians "do not seek to deceive" the international community and will "stand by the promises" they made. <br />Historic understanding <br />US President Barack Obama, who described the tentative deal as a "historic understanding", called Netanyahu within hours of the talks concluding, saying the deal represented progress towards a lasting solution that cuts off Iran's path to a nuclear weapon. <br />Amid the assurances from Obama and the Iranian president, however, Netanyahu continues to oppose the deal, which he said would "pave" Iran's path to a bomb.
