Iran's Hassan Rouhani: United States sanctions are 'economic terrorism'

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said US sanctions were "economic terrorism", as he sought to foster a united front from visiting regional officials on Saturday.

"America's unjust and illegal sanctions against the honourable nation of Iran have targeted our nation as a clear instance of terrorism," Rouhani told a conference in Tehran attended by officials from Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey.

"Economic terrorism is designed to create panic in the economy of a country and fear in other countries in order to prevent investment in the target country," he added.