<span style="color: #222222;">Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has told the United States to take the first step towards dialogue by lifting all sanctions against his country.<br />''<br />'' In a speech aired on state television, Rouhani said the US must retreat from what he called all illegal, unjust and wrong sanctions against Iran. He spoke a day after President Donald Trump said that he was open to a meeting if the circumstances were right.<br />''<br />''Tensions between the US and Iran have escalated since Donald Trump abandoned the 2015 deal limiting Iran's nuclear activities, last year and reinstated sanctions. He had proposed a new agreement that would place indefinite curbs on Iran's nuclear programme and also halt its development of ballistic missiles.</span><br />