Iran’s president concluded that despite recent progress, mending relations “is still a long road to travel”.

The September 28 rally will condemn the presence of the mullahs’ President Hassan Rouhani at the UN.

Iran is holding several Americans, including “Washington Post” reporter Jason Rezaian, who has dual U.S. and Iranian citizenship. The prospects for any meeting between Obama and Rouhani, even a handshake, remained unclear. Saudi military action, which has included heavy bombing that has devastated an already desperately poor nation, was sparked in part by fears that Iranian influence in the region would increase as the result of an impending nuclear agreement with the United States and other major world powers.

Underlining that Iran and Brazil must take advantage of the atmosphere created after the nuclear deal, Rouhani called for the Brazilian companies’ investment in various sectors and markets of Iran including industrial sector as well as metal and mineral industries.

“The [anti-Iran] sanctions should be fully lifted in order for Iranians to feel that negotiation is effective”, Rouhani stressed.

Earlier this month, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, Ali Larijani, dropped hints about a prisoner swap, telling National Public Radio that there were “practical ways” to deal with Americans held in Iran and mentioning “a number of Iranians in prison” in the United States.

“It is important to me to find a way, if there is a way, to set them free quicker, ” Rouhani said.

“If we continue this animosity, this tension, what is the result?”

Challenged about routine chants of “Death to America” during weekly prayers and rallies in Iran, Rouhani said such slogans are not intended to say that Iranians want the U.S.to be destroyed or that Iranians are hostile to the American people.

However, he said Russian President Vladimir Putin told him personally that Moscow wants to play a more active role in combating militant groups in the Middle East. He denied any knowledge of the use of “barrel bombs” against civilians in Syria’s civil war, but suggested that Damascus was entitled to use whatever it has at its disposal to counter terrorists.

Congressmen Chuck Fleischmann and Scott DesJarlais were among those voting against President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran on Friday.

“Those are the ones who died in various hospitals since the event”, he said, adding that 934 people were wounded.

“Assuming that Iran honors the nuclear deal, and it’s properly verified, I think there will be growing potential to do business with Iran”, the FT quoted finance minister Osborne as saying.