Iran slams new US sanctions as 'cheap and useless'

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Iran has slammed new US sanctions over the country's missile program as "cheap and useless", the Tasnim news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a statement from the foreign ministry.

In response to Washington's move, Tehran will impose reciprocal sanctions against a number of American individuals and entities that have taken hostile steps against Iran and other Muslim nations in the region, said the staetment.

Washington introduced new economic sanctions on Iran on Tuesday over its ballistic missile program, saying Tehran's "malign activities" in the Middle East undercut "positive contributions" from the 2015 Iran nuclear accord.

A vehicle carrying a missile is driven during a parade marking National Army Day in front of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum outside Tehran on April 18, 2017. /VCG Photo

The measures signal that Donald Trump's administration is seeking to put more pressure on Iran while keeping in place an agreement between Tehran and six world powers to curb its nuclear program in return for lifting international oil and financial sanctions.

The US government said it was targeting 18 entities and people for supporting what is said was "illicit Iranian actors or transnational criminal activity."

Iranian officials, however, unanimously called the missile tests the "inalienable right" of the country to boost deterrent power.

(Source: Agencies)