The president on Saturday evoked memories of the Iraqi-imposed war in the 1980s, saying the Iranian nation will summon the same spirit to withstand economic hardship and US pressure with unity.

"Not a fortnight goes by without a new message coming for us, saying 'we want negotiations here and there and that we want to resolve the issues'," he said at the opening of festival in Tehran.

"Which one should we believe? Your soft messages, or your brutal acts? If you are truthful and like the Iranian nation, why are you pressuring them?" Rouhani said, addressing US leaders. 

President Donald Trump pulled out of a landmark nuclear deal with Iran in May and pledged to impose the most restrictive sanctions on Tehran in the belief that more economic pressure would force the country back to the negotiating table. 

Rouhani said the US was waging an economic and media war against Iran, adding American leaders were wrong if they thought pressures would make the Islamic Republic bend. 

"You think if you put pressure on our people for two months, three months, four months or a year, they will come to the streets with their hands up and say 'we have surrendered to America and the White House'. This is your fault; this is your mistake," he said. 

The president touched on the former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's eight-year war on Iran, saying Iran is in another battle now. "This is an economic, psychological and propaganda war and  the government is on the frontline of this war."

"First of all, I want everyone - all parties, groups, factions, forces and bodies - to known that today is not a day for complaints; it is not a day for rivalry, or God forbid, for revenge. Today we are all on the battlefield," he said. 

"Disputes are before the war begins. When the war starts, we are all together," Rouhani said, adding the current US administration is in a dispute with not only Iran but also Washington's traditional allies.

In recent months, the US president has stepped up his hostile rhetoric against Iran. He has, however, signaled his willingness to hold talks with Iranian officials.

Iran has taken the United States to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Washington’s unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and its decision to reimpose sanctions on Tehran.

Trump installed the first wave of sanctions, targeting Iran's financial, automotive, aviation and metals sectors, early last month and threatened that the second wave would “ratchet up to yet another level" in November.