Iranian president Hassan Rouhani has said the White House is “afflicted by mental retardation” following sanctions imposed on the country’s supreme leader.
Donald Trump announced yesterday that he is imposing hard-hitting new sanctions on Iran in response to the shooting down of a US drone and “many other things”.
The US Treasury department said eight senior Iranian commanders who “sit atop a bureaucracy that supervises the IRGC’s [the elite Islamic Revolution Guard Corps] malicious regional activities”, were being targeted.
Mr Trump’s executive order will also “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”, as well as foreign financial institutions which help them conduct transitions.
Mr Rouhani hit back at the announcements shortly after. In a live televised address, he branded the sanctions as “outrageous and idiotic”, saying:
“You sanction the foreign minister simultaneously with a request for talks. The White House is afflicted by mental retardation and does not know what to do.”
