Sergei Lavrov
Sergei LavrovReuters

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday he hoped that Iran would not quit the nuclear agreement it reached in 2015 with world powers, Reuters reported.

His comments came a day after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that Iran would abandon the deal "within hours" if the United States imposed any more new sanctions on the Islamic Republic.

Lavrov also said he hoped the United States would not violate its obligations under the nuclear deal with Iran.

"I think unilateral sanctions ... are irresponsible actions that can hurt and undermine the balance achieved," Lavrov said, according to Reuters, in an apparent reference to new restrictions recently imposed by Washington on Iran.

Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed a new package of sanctions into law, with sanctions targeting not only Iran, but North Korea and the Russian government as well.

Within hours, Iran’s Foreign Ministry condemned the new sanctions and vowed an “appropriate and proportional response”.

Trump has been a vocal critic of the Iran nuclear deal, describing it as “the worst deal I’ve ever seen negotiated”.

While Trump's administration recently confirmed that Iran is adhering to the nuclear agreement it signed with world powers in 2015, Trump and other officials in the administration have stressed that the President still has reservations about the deal.