Iran said Tuesday that new U.S. sanctions on the country’s top leaders are “the permanent closure of the path of diplomacy.”
“Imposing useless sanctions on Iran’s Supreme Leader and the commander of Iran’s diplomacy is the permanent closure of the path of diplomacy,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi tweeted, according to Reuters.
“Trump’s desperate administration is destroying the established international mechanisms for maintaining world peace and security,” he added.
{mosads}President Trump on Monday signed an executive order that placed sanctions against Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other officials. Sanctions against Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif are expected to be imposed this week.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in speech that sanctioning Khamenei wouldn’t do anything because he doesn’t have foreign assets, according to Reuters.
“The White House actions mean it is mentally retarded,” Rouhani said. “Tehran’s strategic patience does not mean we have fear.”
The U.S. decided to impose sanctions amid escalating tensions between the two countries.
Iran shot down a U.S. drone last week. Trump said on Twitter that the U.S. had been prepared to launch a retaliatory military strike, but that he stopped it at the last minute when he learned that 150 people could be killed. He later added that he ordered the strike to not go forward “at this time.”