In an impassioned speech at a cabinet meeting in Tehran on Wednesday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran had broken US "knee on the throat of the Iranian nation with unity and integrity."

The Iranian President evoked comparisons with the killing of George Floyd who died during a police arrest in Minneapolis on May 25 after a police officer pressed his knee on his throat for nearly nine minutes.

"This is not the policy of one police officer in just one city. This is American policy. But the great nation of Iran broke this knee," stated Rouhani.

Rouhani stressed that the US government has already got "angry and upset" as a United Nations-imposed arms embargo on Iran is supposed to be lifted in October 2020.

With the US officials seeking to extend the arms embargo through a new resolution, Iran hopes that the other permanent members of the UN Security Council, especially China and Russia, will block it.

"Our expectation from the permanent members is to stand up against this conspiracy for the interests of the world, the interests of the world stability," Rouhani explained.

Rouhani also commented on US stance in the fight against the coronavirus, saying "they have chosen the worst way and had the most casualties, and left their people in trouble."