Iran's Khamenei criticizes US over hard-line stance

Iran's supreme leader is criticizing the US over its hard-line stance toward the country since President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from a landmark nuclear deal with Western powers.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, addressing government officials on the occasion of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, said the US has been aiming to topple the Islamic republic for 40 years.

"From the first day of the Islamic Revolution the US has applied all kinds of enmity to hit the Islamic republic," he said.

The speech comes just days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a steep list of demands to be included in a nuclear treaty to replace the deal scuttled by Trump.

Among them, Pompeo demanded that Iran make wholesale changes in its military and regional policies or face "the strongest sanctions in history.