TEHRAN, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Saturday criticized the U.S. moves to exert sanctions on Iran as the "economic terrorism."
"Oppressive and illegal sanctions of the United States have targeted our nation, which is an instance of economic terrorism," Rouhani said here in an international conference.
"Economic terrorism aims at creating panic in the economy of a country and preventing other countries from trades with and investments in that country," he said.
"U.S. withdrawal from the Iranian nuclear deal and its return of sanctions against the Islamic republic and pressures on Iran's trade partners is a clear example of economic terrorism," he added.
The conference on the "Challenges of Terrorism and Inter-regional Connectivity" kicked off in Iran's capital Tehran on Saturday with the participation of representatives from Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey.
"We are here to voice that if the United States thinks that it can divide us, then it is making a grave mistake," Rouhani stressed.
