IRNA � President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that Iran will never capitulate in the name of negotiations.

Rouhani made the remarks in his speech to a cabinet session.

He said that as long as he is still in office, his government remains ready for fair, legal and respectful negotiations to find a settlement to problems.

The Iranian government has never missed the chance of negotiations and will never do so in the future, the president said, however, noting that the country is never willing to capitulate at the table of negotiations.

�Over the past several weeks, we were witnessing diplomatic movements both in our country and in Europe and the other countries,� President Rouhani said.

He said that signing a landmark nuclear deal with world powers on July 14, 2015 raised Iran�s oil exports from 1 million bpd to 2.8 million bpd.

The multinational accord unfroze a large amount of Iranian assets so that many Iranian commodities which were frozen in foreign customs were released and allowed to come into Iran, the president said.

The US withdrew from Iran nuclear deal in May 2018 without any reason imagining that Iran would also exit the deal the next day preparing the ground for the international sanctions to be re-imposed subsequently, Rouhani stated.

He said that Iran did not seriously care about the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action until it could sell its oil. However, he said that as soon as they imposed sanctions on Iran�s oil, the situation changed so that Iran decided to reduce some of its commitments to the JCPOA.

The President pointed out, �In the first 60 days, although the other side made some moves, we did not see enough, so we later abandoned two other commitments. In the meantime, many efforts and proposals were made by various countries to stop us from reducing our obligations, and they made some moves, but their proposals were not balanced enough in our opinion, and undoubtedly if their actions were enough, we would accept them�.

Rouhani added, �As we have repeatedly emphasized, the reduction of our country's obligations is temporary and if they fully comply with their obligations, we are able to return to the previous situation, and if the other party takes the right and balanced action, and a ceasefire in the economic war is announced, there will be an opportunity to talk to each other and to come to a conclusion. Of course, there are countries as intermediaries, and there are correspondences and calls underway, and everyone should know that we will never miss the opportunity for negotiation�.

He reiterated, �We consider surrendering not right, and the Iranian nation and constitution will not accept it, but we are always ready for a fair, respectful negotiation, and we are ready now�.

Rouhani said, �We are in contact with European countries and other countries in the world, but we have not reached the desired point until now, because the proposals were not balanced, but we will continue the political process, and if we do not come to a conclusion and the second 60-day opportunity is over, we will surely take the third step�.

Underlining that the security of the Persian Gulf, the Sea of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz is very important for Iran, he said, �Along with maintaining the security of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz, the Islamic Republic of Iran works for the safety of other waterways in the world, including the Bab-el-Mandeb and the Indian Ocean�.

"The Strait of Hormuz has a very important location; it�s not to be taken as a joke or for a country to ignore international regulations, and enter the region in the wrong direction and disregard the IRGC�s warnings, who are responsible for the security of the Strait of Hormuz," he said.

Rouhani added, �The main responsibility for protecting the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf is mainly with Iran and neighboring countries, and is not the others� business, and the Iranian nation has always been the protector of the Persian Gulf�.

Praising the brave work of the Revolutionary Guards, the President said, �The IRGC courageously seized the British ship because it had refused all the orders and warnings. They did a very accurate, professional and right job and I believe that the whole world must be grateful to the Islamic Revolution Guards for ensuring the security of the Persian Gulf�.

Rouhani said, �We will not let anyone to lack discipline in the Persian Gulf and Strait of Hormuz, but we are not looking for a military tension; the actions we have taken so far have been in accordance with the violations of the opposite side, as the case of the intruding drone was proved".

Emphasising that the Islamic Republic of Iran has never sought tension and conflict, he said, �We are not going to continue tensions with some European countries and if they are committed to international frameworks and abandon some actions, including what they did in Gibraltar, they will receive a proper response from Iran�.

Dr Rouhani also praised the valuable work of the intelligence and judicial system against the intelligence system of the US and the CIA in recent days, saying, �Our country's intelligence and judicial systems have done a great deal of work against the American intelligence system, which shows that when we are all together, everything will go well�.