Rouhani says tensions between US and Iran at ‘a maximum’

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday that tensions between Tehran and Washington were at “a maximum” rarely seen in the decades-long contentious relations of the two countries.

Animosity between Washington and Tehran - bitter foes since Iran’s 1979 revolution - has intensified since May when U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from an international nuclear deal with Tehran and reimposed sanctions lifted under the accord.

“The struggle between Iran and America is currently at a maximum. America has employed all its power against us,” Rouhani was quoted as saying in a cabinet meeting by the state broadcaster IRIB.

Rouhani said ties have rarely been as tense before.

He also said that a conference on the Middle East and Iran organized by the United States in the Polish capital Warsaw last week not achieved its goals.

Senior officials from 60 nations gathered in Warsaw where the United States hoped to ratchet up pressure against Iran, but foreign ministers from major European powers still committed to the nuclear deal did not attend.

“This is another failure of the U.S. regional policies,” Rouhani said.