Donald Trump denies Iranian claims that he offered to remove sanctions

Just hours earlier Iran released the seized British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani says the US has offered to drop sanctions in exchange for talks. AP

Donald Trump has rejected Iranian claims that the United States had offered to remove all sanctions on Iran in exchange for talks.

"Iran wanted me to lift the sanctions imposed on them in order to meet. I said, of course, NO!" the US President tweeted.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had made the claims following his return to Tehran from the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Mr Rouhani said: "The German chancellor, the prime minister of England (Britain) and the president of France were in New York and all insisted that this meeting take place.

"And America says that I will lift the sanctions.

"It was up for debate what sanctions will be lifted and they had said clearly that we will lift all sanctions."

He added: "But this action wasn't in a manner that was acceptable, meaning that in the atmosphere of sanctions and the existence of sanctions and the toxic atmosphere of maximum pressure, even if we want to negotiate with the Americans in the 5+1 framework, no one can predict what the end and result of this negotiation will be."

His comments came just hours after Iran released the British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, which had been held off the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas for more than two months.

Tensions have risen in the Gulf since May last year when President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal between major powers and Iran and began reimposing crippling sanctions in a campaign of "maximum pressure".

They flared again this May when Iran began reducing its own commitments under the deal and the US deployed military assets to the region.

Since then, ships have been attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized.