Praising the departure of US President Donald Trump from the White House, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday said that “the ball is in America’s court” to return to a landmark nuclear deal and lift sanctions on his country, reported AFP.

The White House is all set to welcome President-elect Joe Biden, whose team has signalled a willingness to return to dialogue with Tehran.

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

He added Trump is “someone for whom all of his four years bore no fruit other than injustice and corruption and causing problems for his own people and the world”.

Also read: US President Donald Trump pardons Steve Bannon, former White House aide, and 73 other people

During his 4-year presidency, Trump led a campaign of “maximum pressure” against Iran, pulling the US out of a landmark nuclear deal, which was agreed between major powers and Iran in 2015 when Biden was vice president under Barack Obama.

Not only this but Trump also imposed punishing sanctions on Iran targetting vital oil sales and international banking ties, plunging its economy into a deep recession.

The 2015 nuclear deal, Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), imposed clear limits on Iran’s nuclear activities in exchange for relief from international sanctions.

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

Also read: Joe Biden’s cabinet picks say US to stand against China trade abuses

Rouhani said Trump’s political career had “died … but the JCPOA is alive.”

“He did all he could to destroy the JCPOA but could not.

“We expect (the Biden administration) to return to law and to commitments, and try in the next four years, if they can, to remove the stains of the past four years,” he added.

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

Blinken confirmed Biden’s desire for Washington to return to the nuclear agreement but said that was conditional on Tehran’s return to strict compliance with its commitments.

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