Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has said the White House is “afflicted by mental retardation” after the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the country’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
In a live televised address, Mr Rouhani branded the sanctions against the ayatollah and other senior officials, including Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, “outrageous and idiotic”.
An exasperated Mr Rouhani said: “You sanction the foreign minister simultaneously with a request for talks?”
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Iran had earlier warned the new US sanctions on Monday meant the permanent closure of diplomatic channels between Tehran and Washington.
Foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi warned the American government was “destroying the established international mechanisms for maintaining world peace and security”.
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Iran claims that in this picture released by Iran state TV, their surface-to-air missile is seen as it shoots down a US surveillance drone
EPA
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This photo shows US RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned surveillance drone. A drone of this model was shot down by Iran on Thursday 21 June
AFP/Getty
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An oil tanker is on fire after it was subject to a suspected attacked at the Gulf of Oman on June 13. The US has blamed Iran for the attack
Reuters
4/15
Iran claims that in this picture released by Iran state TV, debris from the downed US drone is seen after it was recovered from Iranian waters
AFP/Getty
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Iran claims that in this picture released by Iran state TV, debris from the downed US drone is seen after it was recovered from Iranian waters
AFP/Getty
6/15
Smoke billows from an oil tanker after it was subject to a suspected attacked at the Gulf of Oman on June 13
Reuters
7/15
An Iranian navy boat tackles the fire on the Norwegian owned Front Altair oil tanker after it was hit in a suspected attack
AFP/Getty
8/15
Smoke billows from an oil tanker after it was subject to a suspected attacked at the Gulf of Oman on June 13
Reuters
9/15
A screenshot from a video released by the US Department of Defense that the US claims to show Iranian removing an unexploded limpet mine form the hull of the Japan-owned ship that was attacked in the Gulf of Oman on June 13
Getty
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An item reportedly found on the Japan-owned oil tanker that was attacked on June 13 in the Gulf of Oman
AFP/Getty
11/15
A handout photograph from the US Department of Defense shows a composite material that the US claim was left behind on the hull of the Japan-owned oil tanker following the removal of an unexploded limpet mine
Getty
12/15
A view from the cabin of an Iranian navy boat as it tackles the fire on the Norwegian owned Front Altair oil tanker after it was hit in a suspected attack
EPA
13/15 Release by US government
A picture released by U.S. Central Command shows damage to the hull of the oil tanker Kokuka Courageous. The picture suggests that the ship is ‘likely’ to have been hit by a mine as the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo moves to blame Iran for the suspected attack
Reuters
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Smoke billows from an oil tanker after it was subject to a suspected attacked at the Gulf of Oman on June 13
Reuters
15/15 Release by US government
A picture released by U.S. Central Command shows damage to the hull of the oil tanker Kokuka Courageous. The pictures suggests that the ship is ‘likely’ to have been hit by a mine as the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo moves to blame Iran for the suspected attack
EPA
1/15
Iran claims that in this picture released by Iran state TV, their surface-to-air missile is seen as it shoots down a US surveillance drone
EPA
2/15
This photo shows US RQ-4A Global Hawk unmanned surveillance drone. A drone of this model was shot down by Iran on Thursday 21 June
AFP/Getty
3/15
An oil tanker is on fire after it was subject to a suspected attacked at the Gulf of Oman on June 13. The US has blamed Iran for the attack
Reuters
4/15
Iran claims that in this picture released by Iran state TV, debris from the downed US drone is seen after it was recovered from Iranian waters
AFP/Getty
5/15
Iran claims that in this picture released by Iran state TV, debris from the downed US drone is seen after it was recovered from Iranian waters
AFP/Getty
6/15
Smoke billows from an oil tanker after it was subject to a suspected attacked at the Gulf of Oman on June 13
Reuters
7/15
An Iranian navy boat tackles the fire on the Norwegian owned Front Altair oil tanker after it was hit in a suspected attack
AFP/Getty
8/15
Smoke billows from an oil tanker after it was subject to a suspected attacked at the Gulf of Oman on June 13
Reuters
9/15
A screenshot from a video released by the US Department of Defense that the US claims to show Iranian removing an unexploded limpet mine form the hull of the Japan-owned ship that was attacked in the Gulf of Oman on June 13
Getty
10/15
An item reportedly found on the Japan-owned oil tanker that was attacked on June 13 in the Gulf of Oman
AFP/Getty
11/15
A handout photograph from the US Department of Defense shows a composite material that the US claim was left behind on the hull of the Japan-owned oil tanker following the removal of an unexploded limpet mine
Getty
12/15
A view from the cabin of an Iranian navy boat as it tackles the fire on the Norwegian owned Front Altair oil tanker after it was hit in a suspected attack
EPA
13/15 Release by US government
A picture released by U.S. Central Command shows damage to the hull of the oil tanker Kokuka Courageous. The picture suggests that the ship is ‘likely’ to have been hit by a mine as the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo moves to blame Iran for the suspected attack
Reuters
14/15
Smoke billows from an oil tanker after it was subject to a suspected attacked at the Gulf of Oman on June 13
Reuters
15/15 Release by US government
A picture released by U.S. Central Command shows damage to the hull of the oil tanker Kokuka Courageous. The pictures suggests that the ship is ‘likely’ to have been hit by a mine as the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo moves to blame Iran for the suspected attack
EPA
Mr Trump said the “hard-hitting” sanctions, which came following weeks of escalating tensions between the two countries, were “a strong and proportionate response to Iran’s increasingly provocative action”.
The president’s national security adviser, John Bolton, a notable hawk who has repeatedly called for military action against Iran, has insisted Washington was still willing to talk to Tehran.
“The president has held the door open to real negotiations to completely and verifiably eliminate Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, its ballistic missile delivery systems, its support for international terrorism and other malign behaviour worldwide,” he said.
“All that Iran needs to do is to walk through that open door.”
Tensions have been mounting in the Gulf since Mr Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 multilateral deal in which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of crippling economic sanctions.
Those tensions culminated in the shooting down of a US drone last week. Mr Trump said he ordered reprisal air strikes but called them off at the last minute when he was told of the likely loss of life involved.
Mr Trump said the new sanctions were not only in response to the downing of the American drone.
The US has also blamed Iran for attacks on two oil tankers this month near the Strait of Hormuz, though US officials have so far provided only shaky evidence for the claim, which Iran denies.
Washington claimed the measures effectively freeze billions of dollars worth of Iran assets, but experts said the true impact was likely to be limited.
Richard Johnson, the US state department’s former deputy leader co-ordinator of the Iran nuclear deal, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Frankly I doubt that there’s many international companies doing business with these organisations, so I don’t think the sanctions will have a really substantive effect on Iran’s economy.
“I do think it’s much more symbolic than it is substantive.”
Additional supporting by agencies
