Iran Lashes Out At US For Imposing Sanctions Targeting Its Supreme Leader And Other Top Officials

Iran on Tuesday (25 June) strongly criticised the United States for imposing sanctions targeting its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and other top officials, reports The Hindu.

According to the report, the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, while criticising the sanctions, described the White House as “afflicted by mental retardation”.

President Rouhani called the unilateral sanctions imposed on its supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei 'outrageous and idiotic' while underscoring that the 80-year-old Shiite cleric has no plans to ever travel to the US.

“The fruitless sanctions on Iran’s leadership and the chief of Iranian diplomacy mean the permanent closure of the road of diplomacy with the frustrated US administration,” said the spokesperson of Iran's foreign ministry Abbas Mousavi, as reported by The Hindu.

The new sanctions were enacted by the US President Donald Trump on Monday (24 June) following Iran's downing of a US surveillance drone last week over the Strait of Hormuz.

The tensions between both the countries have escalated since the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran a year ago.