Iran has imposed sanctions on the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Matthew Tueller, and two other officials for coordinating "terrorist acts" and "criminal assassination of General Soleimani," the foreign ministry said on Friday.

Saeed Khatibzadeh, spokesperson for Iran's foreign ministry, said in a statement on Twitter that Tueller played a central role in "coordinating terrorist acts in Iraq and beyond, in criminal assassination of General Soleimani," and in advancing sanctions against Iranians.

Tueller's deputy Steve Fagin and Rob Waller, head of U.S. consulate in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdistan region, are the other two officials sanctioned. 

"Anti-Iran moves won't go unanswered," Khatibzadeh wrote. 

Washington on Thursday slapped new sanctions on five Iranian entities over "brazen attempts" to interfere with the November 3 U.S. election, with Tehran strongly denying the accusations. 

The U.S. also separately blacklisted Tehran's envoy to Baghdad, Iraj Masjedi, describing him as a "close adviser" to Soleimani. 

In response, Masjedi told state media he was "pleased to hear the news" that the "terrorist and criminal regime of the United States has put me once more on the list of its unjust sanctions alongside 80 million Iranians." 

Tensions between arch-enemies Tehran and Washington have increased since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew from a landmark nuclear agreement with Tehran and world powers and reimposed punishing sanctions. Again in January, they flared when a U.S. drone strike killed Soleimani, who headed the Qods Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

(With input from AFP）

(Cover: The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. /Reuters)