Trump hits Iran with sanctions

US President Donald Trump's administration enacted new sanctions on Iran yesterday, the first concrete action after the White House put Tehran "on notice" this week.

The Treasury Department said it was sanctioning individuals and companies connected to Iran's ballistic missile program and those providing support to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Qods Force.

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The moves come as punishment for the country's test launch of a ballistic missile last weekend. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn said the move was "provocative" and in defiance of a United Nations Security Council resolution.

The new sanctions are designed not to violate the Iran nuclear deal, which the US and five other world powers signed with Tehran during Obama's tenure. That plan allowed for the lifting of major sanctions against Iran in exchange for a curtailment of its nuclear program.

But they do represent the first concrete step in what the Trump administration has vowed will be a more aggressive approach to Iran.

Trump on Thursday refused to rule out military action against Iran, saying that "nothing is off the table" when it comes to confronting destabilizing behavior from the country. While Obama also refused to rule out military action, Trump's rhetoric reflects a scaled-up posture.

On the campaign trail, Trump railed against the nuclear deal, though his aides have offered a more muted view after he took office. An official who briefed reporters this week suggested the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, would remain in place for now.

Trump also accused Iran of "playing with fire".

Shortly after Trump's tweet Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said via the same platform that the his country is unmoved by US threats following its missile test launch and Tehran will never initiate war.

“Iran unmoved by threats as we derive security from our people. Will never initiate war, but we can only rely on our own means of defence,” Zarif tweeted.

Referring to the previous administration of Barack Obama, Trump added that the Iranian government didn't appreciate how "kind" that the US had been to them - a potential reference to the nuclear deal struck with the US and other world powers in 2015 where Iran's nuclear capability was reduced in return for a loosening of sanctions. Trump said that he would not follow a similar path.

In a letter to Trump Thursday, a bipartisan group of senators encouraged aggressive action against Iran as a rebuttal to its missile launches and support for terror organizations.

"Iranian leaders must feel sufficient pressure to cease deeply destabilizing activities, from sponsoring terrorist groups to continued testing of ballistic missiles," the lawmakers wrote.

"Full enforcement of existing sanctions and the imposition of additional sanctions on Iran for its ballistic missile program are necessary," the letter said.

Speaking to reporters Thursday in Tehran, the Iranian adviser, Ali Akbar Velayati, dismissed what he called the US leader's "baseless ranting" and said that even Americans were not satisfied with "Trump's extremism," according to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency.

Velayati blasted Trump as lacking sufficient experience, saying he should take lessons from his predecessor, Barack Obama. He added that those who threaten the Muslim world should take a look at US failures in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

He also said that all test-fired missiles were defensive and that Iran did not need to seek permission to carry out such activities.

Meanwhile, Iran yesterday banned US wrestlers from participating in the Freestyle World Cup competition in response to Trump's executive order forbidding visas for Iranians, according to an official IRNA news agency report.

Earlier this week, Iran said it would take retaliatory action. Ghasemi said the policy of the new US administration left Iran no other choice but to ban the wrestlers.