President Rouhani contended that "people should know that Iran has never been the first party to violate its commitments under the [nuclear] deal... the negotiating parties are violating the nuclear deal with Iran, and the U.S. is at the top. But the other parties to the JCPOA did not fully live up to their commitments either". Iran's enemies, Rouhani continued, "claim that Iran must work within the framework of what they say in regional matters and those related to defence and advanced technologies, including nuclear matters. If we want to have interaction with our friends in the region and be able to satisfy our own needs in defence areas, do we need to ask for their permission? We will not ask anybody's permission for boosting our defence power".