U.S. sanctions imposed against nine new Iranian targets on Tuesday go against Washington's commitments and "violate the Geneva nuclear action plan," said Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham.
Six individuals and three companies were penalized under the new sanctions for allegedly helping the Iranian government obtain hundreds of millions in U.S. currency or avoid existing sanctions, The Associated Press reported.
Afkham told Iranian state news agency IRNA that by imposing additional sanctions amid ongoing nuclear negotiations between Iran and the "P5+1" world powers, the U.S. "contradicts its claims of good will and sheds doubts over [its] intentions."
The sanctions have no practical effect on Iran's trade with other countries and were likely a result of the "internal political situation" within the U.S., the spokeswoman said.
"This action is for mere publicity and will have no bearing whatsoever on our commercial policies," she said, according to Reuters.
Tuesday's sanctions are meant to help enforce existing sanctions against Iran, and additional nuclear-related sanctions are not supported by the U.S., said Treasury Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence, David Cohen.
"Although we do not support the imposition of any new nuclear-related sanctions while negotiations are ongoing ... we have made clear, by word and deed, that we will continue to enforce our existing sanctions," Cohen said in a statement.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said when speaking to armed forces on Wednesday, "no superpower can harm national sovereignty and independence" of Iran, reported IRNA.
Low-level talks on Iran's nuclear program will resume in Geneva on Jan. 15, according to Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is head of the country's nuclear negotiating team, the AP reported.
While the six world powers involved in the talks - the U.S., France, Germany, Russia, China and Britain - believe Iran's nuclear program could lead to it developing nuclear weapons, Iran has repeatedly insisted its program is peaceful.
Last month, the negotiations failed a second time to meet a self-imposed agreement deadline, which was extended to June 30.
