Iran's president urges removal of US sanctions to settle nuke disputes

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday urged the United States to remove sanctions against Iran, official IRNA news agency reported.

"If we are seeking diplomacy (to settle the disputes), the clear path is to lift sanctions ... there is no other option," Rouhani was quoted as saying.

The Iranian president made the remarks in a telephone conversation with the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday.

So far, the new US administration has taken "no practical measure" to return to the deal and lift anti-Iran sanctions, said Rouhani.

He also criticized the European signatories of the 2015 nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), for what he called their "failure" to adhere to their JCPOA commitments to safeguard Iran's interests under the deal.

The former US administration left the JCPOA in 2018 and imposed sanctions against Iran, which then reacted to the US move by gradually quitting parts of its commitments under the accord.