US committed crime against humanity by sanctioning Iran, says Hassan Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday (local time) slammed US for withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and said that it has committed a crime against humanity by sanctioning Iran.

Rouhani made the remarks while addressing the 66th Session of World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean, reported IRNA news agency.

"Without any reasons and just because of the pressures from domestic extremists, the Zionist regime, and Saudi Arabia, the United States went on its knees and withdrew from the JCPOA," Rouhani was quoted as saying.

The Iranian President said exiting an agreement is a disgrace for a country, exiting an agreement endorsed by the UN Security Council is a bigger one, and it becomes much bigger when they sanction medicine and food.

"Undoubtedly, the US has committed a crime against humanity. It is economic terrorism," he added.

JCPOA was signed between Iran and five other countries -- the US, the UK, Russia, China and Germany -- along with 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.