Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh  at a press conference in Tehran, Iran (Photo: IRNA/VNA)

A foreign ministry spokesperson said the measures, imposed days after Tehran’s chief nuclear negotiator indicated Iran was ready to resume stalled nuclear talks, show Washington was “not trustworthy.”

The “imposition of new sanctions on the Islamic Republic shows a contradictory behavior on the part of the White House,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh.

The US Treasury on Friday announced sanctions targeting Iran’s drone program which it said has been used to attack American forces, their partners, and international shipping across the region, including in Iraq and Syria where Iranian-backed militias are widely believed to be behind at least 12 drone attacks or threats of attack on US interests in the past year. The militias demand the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.