Iran president says world 'no longer accepts' US demands

Hassan Rouhani said the presidency of Donald Trump is a backwards move

A handout photo made available by the Iranian presidential office shows Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks during a ceremony in Tehran on May 21, 2018.

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed threats made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, saying the rest of the world no longer accepts America making decisions on their behalf.

In a statement carried by multiple Iranian news agencies, Mr Rouhani rejected the top US diplomat's speech made earlier on Monday, warning of the "strongest sanctions in history".

"Who are you to decide for Iran and the world?" the Iranian president was quoted as saying.

"The world today does not accept that the United States decides for the world. Countries have their independence," he added.

It was a pointed response to Mr Pompeo, who issued a list of 12 demands addressing Iran's policies in the Middle East and its ballistic missile programme following the unilateral US withdrawal from a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.

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Mr Rouhani dismissed the administration of President Donald Trump as a "move 15 years backwards to the era of Bush junior and a repeat of the same statements as 2003", an apparent reference to the Iraq war.

"The era of such statements has evolved and the Iranian people have heard these statements hundreds of times, and no longer pays attention," Mr Rouhani added.

European leaders have strongly condemned the US move to abandon the nuclear deal - a pact also involving Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany - and reimpose sanctions, seeing it as undermining regional security and a direct attack on their economic interests.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo delivers remarks on 'After the Deal - A New Iran Strategy', at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. Michael Reynolds / EPA

Russia and China have also criticised the US move and vowed to maintain trade with Iran.

"The world does not accept the logic by which a gentleman who was head of the spy service... decides for others," said Mr Rouhani, referring to Mr Pompeo's most recent job as head of the CIA.