TEHRAN – Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday hailed the departureof “tyrant” US counterpart Donald Trump, who is due to leave office laterin the day making way for President-elect Joe Biden.

A “tyrant’s era came to an end and today is the final day of his ominousreign,” Rouhani said in televised remarks to his cabinet.

“Someone for whom all of his four years bore no fruit other than injusticeand corruption and causing problems for his own people and the world.”

During his presidency, Trump led a campaign of “maximum pressure” againstIran, pulling Washington out of a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran in 2018and reimposing punishing sanctions.

The sanctions targeted Iran’s vital oil sales and international bankingties, plunging its economy into a deep recession.

Agreed between major powers and Iran in 2015 when Biden was vice presidentunder Barack Obama, the nuclear deal imposed clear limits on Iran’sactivities in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

Since 2019, Tehran has suspended its compliance with most of the limits setby the agreement in response to Washington’s abandonment of sanctionsrelief and the failure of other parties to the deal to make up for it.

Biden’s pick for secretary of state, Anthony Blinken, said at a Senateconfirmation hearing that Trump’s policies had made Iran “more dangerous.”

Blinken confirmed Biden’s desire for Washington to return to the nuclearagreement, but said that was conditional on Tehran’s return to strictcompliance with its commitments.

Tehran has repeatedly called on Washington to lift sanctions first andrespect its own obligations under the agreement.

It has said it will then immediately return to full compliance.