Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday that the United States must lift sanctions against Tehran if it wants it to return to dialogue. Rouhani said that "peace with Iran is the mother of all peace" and "war with Iran is the mother of all wars" as he defended the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers. “Iran favors talks and negotiations and, if the US really wants to talk, before anything else it should lift all sanctions," he added in remarks aired live on state television. Rouhani, speaking at the foreign ministry after meeting with his top diplomat, Mohammad Javad Zarif, said Tehran was ready for talks regardless of whether or not the US was party to a nuclear deal. "Whether they want to come into the JCPOA or not, its up to them," said Rouhani, referring to the 2015 deal known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. "All sanctions should be lifted so that there will be no criminals facing us," he said, accusing the US of committing acts of "economic terrorism" for blocking imports of food and medicine. "So if it wants talks, it must prepare the path for it. The path to it is repent. There is no other way." Tensions between Iran and the US have been rising since Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal in May 2018 and began imposing sanctions on it as part of a campaign of "maximum pressure". Twelve months on, Iran hit back by suspending some of its commitments under the deal. The situation threatened to spiral out of control with ships attacked, drones downed and oil tankers seized. At the height of the crisis, US President Donald Trump called off air strikes against Iran at the last minute in June after Iranian forces shot down a US drone Rouhani said in any talks the Americans should be ready to negotiate fairly. "If you want security, if your soldiers want security in the region, (then agree to) security for security," he said. "You cannot harm our security and then expect your own security. "Peace for peace and oil for oil," he added. "You cannot say that you wont allow our oil to be exported. The US administration last week also announced financial sanctions on Zarif, after Trump last month imposed similar measures on Irans supreme leader Ali Khamenei.