File Photo: US Secretary of State John Kerry (2nd L) with Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) on March 18 in Lausanne. (AFP Photo)
The head of the elite Revolutionary Guards today hailed the success of Iran's negotiators in talks with world powers that secured a framework deal on its long-disputed nuclear programme.
"The revolutionary children of Islamic Iran, in this diplomatic battle, were able to defend competently the rights of the nation," Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said.
Jafari, who heads an ultra-conservative branch of Iran's military, thanked President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif for their role, in comments published on the Guards' sepanews.com website.
Long-sceptical of a nuclear deal, Jafari has in the past repeatedly voiced distrust of the negotiations since they were relaunched under a Rouhani led-initiative in 2013.
Under an outline text agreed last week between Tehran and the P5+1 group - the United States, Britain, China, France and Russia plus Germany - Iran must significantly reduce its number of centrifuges in exchange for a suspension of sanctions.
The outline was a major breakthrough in a 12-year international crisis over Iran's nuclear programme, although a final deal has yet to be reached.