Iran calls on the US to return to the nuclear deal.

President Hassan Rouhani declared on September 27 that Iran does not want war with the United States and believes that the US will "sooner or later" return to supporting the Iran nuclear deal after the Trump administration withdrew from it in May 2018.

In a press conference, President Rouhani stated that the US decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal was a "mistake" because it would not benefit the US, Iran, Europe, or any other country.

"One day America will return, sooner or later," the Iranian president asserted.

He also stated that the Trump administration had committed a "second mistake" at the UN Security Council on September 26th because while 14 other countries directly or indirectly supported the P5+1 nuclear agreement, only Trump – the chairman of the meeting – spoke out against it, and the US President appeared to have been isolated.

Speaking at the Security Council, Trump called the Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a "terrible one-sided deal," declaring that Iran "must never be allowed to possess nuclear weapons" and accusing the country's government of contributing to "violence, terrorism and chaos" in the region.

Rouhani said it was "quite strange, unprecedented and surprising" that President Trump, who presided over the Security Council, called 14 other member states in violation of the resolution when they endorsed the JCPOA – an agreement that had been unanimously approved by the entire Security Council in 2015, including a vote from the US.

The Iranian president also added that Trump not only disagreed with the resolution but also stated that anyone who implemented it "would be punished."

Responding to a question about whether the harsh rhetoric from Trump and other top US administration officials about Iran could lead to a war, Rouhani said that since the 1979 revolution, Iran "has repeatedly been the target of such rhetoric."

The Iranian president also stated: "We do not want a war with the United States anywhere in the region. We do not want to attack them. We do not want to escalate tensions – none of that."

"But we demand that the United States abide by the law and respect the sovereignty of other nations," he further affirmed.

Rouhani also stated: "The United States must rethink its presence in the region, in the Persian Gulf, the Sea of ​​Oman, in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere."

Trump has declared he will continue to isolate Iran through sanctions that Washington reimposed on Tehran after the US withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in May 2018. The next round of sanctions will take effect in early November 2018.

The Iranian president also informed the press that the sanctions "which were supposed to take effect in November 2018 had already been implemented in September 2018, so there will be no more sanctions starting in November."

Rouhani said Iran would continue to cooperate with countries that support the nuclear agreement.

He also called the decision of the five countries that signed the nuclear agreement on September 24th "a very good step" as these countries established a financial system in Europe to facilitate payments for Iranian imports and exports.

"We reached the JCPOA agreement. Even to this day, we are still achieving the benefits promised in the agreement for our country and our people. We will uphold this agreement."

However, he also added: "If the situation changes, we will have other avenues and solutions."