| Iranian President Hassan Rouhani defended an interim nuclear deal that eases some of the international community's crippling economic sanctions in return for a freeze on part of the Islamic Republic's uranium enrichment activities, saying Saturday that improving the economy is as important as maintaining a peaceful nuclear program. Since Iran signed the interim agreement last month with the U.S., France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia, Rouhani has been trying to convince skeptics and hard-liners at home that Iran is not compromising on key issues of national sovereignty. |



