Iran says U.S. sanctions are designed to derail nuclear deal

The United States is undermining the Iran nuclear deal by imposing sanctions on the country, a ranking Iranian official said Thursday on state TV.

"The main purpose of the United States in implementing the sanctions against Iran is to destroy the JCPOA," Deputy Foreign Minister Sayed Abbas Araqchi said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal engineered between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, alongside Germany and the European Union.

He added that Tehran "will show a very clever reaction" to the imposition of sanctions.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi also warned that the "hostile" U.S. measures would impact the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal and said Tehran reserved the right to respond, according to state news agency IRNA.

President Donald Trump signed into law Wednesday morning legislation that levies new sanctions against Iran, alongside Russia and North Korea.

The bill seeks to ban anyone dealing with Iran's ballistic missile programme from entering the U.S., and blocks transactions on properties held in the U.S. by people associated with the programme.

Iran has yet to issue a formal response to the sanctions imposed by the U.S.