Tehran, Dec 7 (IANS): Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has defended the interim nuclear deal that his country signed with the world's major powers in November, the media reported Saturday.

"Our slogan is the centrifuges must rotate, but people's life and economy of the country should also rotate," Rouhani said here addressing the university students on the occasion of National Student Day.

He also said that "the Zionist regime became angry of the deal (since) it was as a blow on the Zionist regime," referring to Israel, reports Xinhua.

On the other hand, Iran's friends in the region are happy about the deal, he added.

Iran and the P5 1 group - the US, Britain, France, Russia, China plus Germany struck a deal in Geneva Nov 24, in which Iran agreed to freeze part of its nuclear programme in exchange for limited ease of sanctions which have hurt its economy.

Majority of Iranian officials have also backed the agreement, while some others have taken cautious stance about its results.