Sanctions on Iran to be 'substantially' increased soon, says Trump

Accusing Iran of "secretly" enriching uranium for a long time, United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday warned that more sanctions would be imposed "substantially" on Tehran soon.

"Iran has long been secretly "enriching," in total violation of the terrible 150 Billion Dollar deal made by John Kerry and the Obama Administration. Remember, that deal was to expire in a short number of years. Sanctions will soon be increased, substantially!" he tweeted.

Later, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani termed as a "sad irony" the convening of an emergency meeting by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the behest of the US, despite the Trump administration "ruining" the 2015 nuclear deal.

The meeting is currently underway to discuss the current status of the nuclear agreement or the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), at the request of the US, which unilaterally withdrew from the treaty last year and re-imposed sanctions on Tehran, including on its oil and banking sectors.

While Iran is yet to withdraw fully from the agreement, it recently announced its decision to increase nuclear enrichment in response to the new US sanctions.

On Monday, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran announced that the country has officially surpassed the 3.67 per cent uranium enrichment limit set under the historic 2015 nuclear deal and could consider increasing the stockpile to 20 per cent in the future.

The nuclear agreement was signed by five countries -- the US, the UK, Russia, China and Germany, and the European Union -- with an aim to limit Iran's civilian energy programme, thereby preventing it from developing nuclear weapons at some point in the future, in exchange for relief from sanctions that were crippling the country's economy.

The US' decision of pulling out from the agreement in May last year soured its ties with Iran. Since then, Washington slapped a multitude of sanctions on Tehran citing the latter's support to state-sponsored terrorism and conflicts.