Tehran’s chilling warning to Washington comes a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order imposing new sanctions against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other senior figures. The sanctions are regarded as punishment against Tehran after a US drone was shot down in the Strait of Hormuz last week. President Donald Trump subsequently cancelled a retaliatory air strike 10 minutes before it was due to go ahead. But the USA has decided to continue with economic sanctions while trying to pursue peace talks with Iran.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani labelled the decision “idiotic” and said the White House was “afflicted by mental retardation”.
Iran’s Economic Minister Farhad Dejpasandsadi said: “We have our plans and options to counter the enemy’s pressure and sanctions.
“But I will not reveal more details about our plans.”
World leaders have reacted with concern about the situation.
What do the sanctions mean?
The new sanctions single out Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali, and senior figures surrounding him.
Mr Trump said the “hard-hitting” measures were a “strong and proportionate response to Iran’s increasingly provocative action.”
Iran responded by saying they were “useless sanctions” but the US Treasury said they stop Iranian assets stretching into the billions of dollars.
A US Treasury statement also said it had taken actions “against eight senior commanders of Navy, Aerospace, and Ground Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)”.
Washington said President Trump’s order “will deny Iran’s leadership access to financial resources and authorises the targeting of persons appointed to certain official or other positions by the Supreme Leader or the Supreme Leader’s Office”.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is also expected to be hit by sanctions later on in the week.
Tehran says it will now disengage further from its commitment to its 2015 nuclear agreement.
Mr Trump withdrew the US from the deal a year ago, imposing the start of economic sanctions on Iran.
Earlier, Foreign Secretary and Conservative leader hopeful Jeremy Hunt said he “can’t envisage any situation” where the UK would go to war with Iran.
He added the Foreign Office is “very concerned about the situation in the Middle East and the risks of an accidental war”.
Mr Hunt said: “We’ve made serious efforts to de-escalate tension, including a visit by my friend the minister for the Middle East to Tehran at the end of last week.”