Iran slams 'psychological warfare' as US to reimpose sanctions

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said today that Washington's call for new nuclear negotiations at the same time as it reimposes crippling sanctions "doesn't make sense" and is an attempt at "psychological warfare".

"If you're an enemy and you stab the other person with a knife and then you say you want negotiations, then the first thing you have to do is remove the knife," he said in an interview on state television.

It was his first response to US President Donald Trump's offer of talks on a new deal to replace a 2015 pact he abandoned in May, and came as Iran braces for the return of sweeping US sanctions tomorrow.

"They want to launch psychological warfare against the Iranian nation," Rouhani said. "Negotiations with sanctions doesn't make sense." Trump's withdrawal from the historic multilateral accord in May infuriated his European partners.

The first round of sanctions takes effect overnight, targeting Iran's access to US banknotes and key industries including cars and carpets.

"The Iranian regime faces a choice," Trump said in a statement. "Either change its threatening, destabilizing behaviour and reintegrate with the global economy, or continue down a path of economic isolation."