Iran ‘very happy’ Trump leaving

President Hassan Rouhani said yesterday that Iran was "very happy" over the looming departure from office of US counterpart Donald Trump, who led a campaign of "maximum pressure" against the Islamic republic.

President-elect Joe Biden, who defeated Trump at the ballot box in November, has signalled a willingness to return to diplomacy with Iran after four tense years under the outgoing president.

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"Some say you are overexcited by the advent of Mr. Biden. No, we are not, but we are very happy to see Trump leave," he said in televised comments at a cabinet meeting.

"Thank God, these are his final days," Rouhani added, calling Trump a "tyrant", "the most unruly, lawless president" and a "terrorist and murderer."

His comment came before Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that US "enmities" towards Iran will not cease with the looming departure from office of Trump.

He reiterated his position that Iran should bolster itself to "nullify" sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, but should "not delay" in the event they can be lifted.

"You witnessed what Trump's America and Obama's America did to you," he was quoted as saying on his official website.

"Enmities are not limited to Trump's America and will not end just because he has left office," Khamenei added, addressing the family of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a January US air strike in neighbouring Iraq.

"Do not trust the enemy, this is my explicit advice."

Meanwhile, the remaining parties to the faltering 2015 Iran nuclear accord met yesterday after Tehran announced plans for a new breach of the deal.

The meeting of the so-called "joint commission" included China, France, Russia, Iran, Germany and Britain and was chaired by senior EU foreign affairs official Helga Schmid.

The meeting, which lasted around two hours, was held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2015 deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has unravelled steadily since Trump withdrew from it in 2018 and went on to impose crippling economic sanctions on Iran.

Tehran has retaliated by progressively abandoning limits on its nuclear activity laid down in the deal, most recently planning to install advanced centrifuges at Iran's main nuclear enrichment plant in Natanz.

Last week France, Germany and Britain -- collectively known as the "E3" -- condemned the plan as "deeply worrying".