TEHRAN – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani says it is a “legal obligation” for all countries to bypass U.S. sanctions against Iran.

“I think it would be a great source of pride for any country to trample American sanctions, because these American sanctions are illegal sanctions and violate a Security Council resolution. So, as a legal obligation, all the countries of the world should try to bring this unlawful US move to failure,” Rouhani told a press conference on in New York on Wednesday.

“So far we have stayed within the JCPOA and [honored] all the commitments we have had. And we will stay in the JCPOA so far as staying in the JCPOA meets our national interests. And whenever we notice our interests are not being met, procedures have been devised within the JCPOA itself and we will start with those very procedures.”

Regarding a recent joint statement by the 4+1 over the Iran nuclear deal, he said, “So this statement was a very good step forward regarding Iran’s cooperation with the five countries to save the JCPOA. But, yes, we expect much more than this. The expectations have been clearly discussed in our meetings with the other side, that is, the five countries. They are completely aware of our viewpoints. And they have promised us to push this process forward step by step so that Iran can make use of the necessary interests in the JCPOA.”

On prospect of de-escalation with the U.S., he said “If America goes back to the law we will not have any problem. Of course there have been differences between Iran and America from the past, which have to be resolved gradually in their own turn.”

On John Bolton’s threats against any move against U.S. forces, the Iranian president said “America is now there in Syria, against international rules. The Syrian government rejects and condemns this. So the presence of America in Syria is unlawful, and it does not concern us if it suffers damages or not. We do not intent do engage in war with American forces anywhere in the region. We do not want to attack US forces. We do not want to escalate tension with America. None of these. But we ask America to act according to the law and to respect countries’ national sovereignty.”