UNITED NATIONS (REUTERS) - Iran's new president, Mr Hassan Rouhani, blasted international sanctions against Iran on Tuesday, comparing them to the widely criticised punitive measures against Iraq while the late Saddam Hussein was in power.

"These sanctions are violent, pure and simple," he told the UN General Assembly, adding that normal people, not political elites, ended up suffering because of them.

"The negative impact is not nearly limited to the intended victims of sanctions."