Trump slams Iranian rulers on Persian New Year

On Nowruz 2018, also known as the Persian New Year, which was on March 20, United States President Donald Trump had a message for the Iranians - Your country's government is corrupt.

"The history of Nowruz is rooted in Iran, where for millennia a proud nation has overcome great challenges by the strength of its culture and the resilience of its people. Today, the Iranian people face another challenge: rulers who serve themselves instead of serving the people," CNN quoted Trump as saying in a statement.

Trump called out the Iranian regime's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, calling it a "hostile army that brutalises and steals from the Iranian people to fund terrorism abroad".

He further accused the guard corps of spending "Iran's wealth" to support "the Assad regime and support militants and terrorists in Syria, Iraq and Yemen" rather than the "ordinary Iranians" who "struggle economically and find it difficult to celebrate holidays like Nowruz".

"Deceit has become official state policy. To hide the truth, Iran's rulers suppress their own citizens' rights to free assembly, access to information, and equal opportunity," Trump went on to add.

The statement came as the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal approaches reauthorisation next month.

While speaking with reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Donald Trump provided little clarity on what he will do with the deal.

Donald Trump added that Iran had not been treating the region and the world "appropriately".