Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday that the Iranian nation will not budge in the face of "cruel" US sanctions and "insults", days after Washington imposed sanctions on him and other top officials in the country.
"The most vicious officials of the (US) government accuse Iran and insult it. The Iranian nation will not give in and retreat in the face of such insults," Khamenei was quoted as saying by his official website.
President Donald Trump enacted the new sanctions against Khamenei and others on Monday and US officials also said they plan sanctions against Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards also said the recent sanctions against Tehran were a desperate measure after downing of US drone, worth over $100 million, in the Gulf of Oman by Iran.
"The recent US sanctions against the Guards commanders show their desperation and anger in face of Iranian prowess," Hossein Salami was quoted as saying by the state news agency IRNA.
Salami said after downing of a US drone by the Guards, Washington resorted to "illogical and senseless" reactions to save face.
Iran warned on Tuesday that the new US sanctions meant "closing the doors of diplomacy" between Tehran and Washington. President Hassan Rouhani derided the White House as being "afflicted by mental retardation."
Trump called that a "very ignorant and insulting statement," tweeting that an Iranian attack on any US interest will be met with "great and overwhelming force ... overwhelming will mean obliteration." His secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said the Iranian statement was "immature."
