Iran says new US sanctions will only stiffen resolve

Iran said on Wednesday that new US sanctions on its central bank governor would only make Iranians "more determined, patient and resistant than ever".

"We consider this inappropriate policy to be part of the continued unwise behaviour and hostile policies of the American government," said foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi in a statement on the ministry website.

On Tuesday, the US sanctioned Valiollah Seif, the governor of the Central Bank of Iran, accusing him of helping the country's Revolutionary Guard Corps transfer millions of dollars to Lebanon's Hizballah.

Ghasemi said this was an attempt to coerce other countries who have opposed last week's decision by the US to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

"Following the failure and destructive effects of its own mistakes and obvious misconceptions after its unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA (nuclear deal), the US government is now trying to influence the will and decisions of the remaining members of the JCPOA and other countries in the world," Ghasemi said.

"These venomous policies have had, and will have, no success for America, and have made the government and nation of Iran more determined, patient and resistant than ever to confront the US," he added.

Since its withdrawal from the nuclear deal last week, the US has announced new sanctions targeting the Revolutionary Guards financial networks.

That has included a currency exchange network, another central bank official, and executives from Iraq's Al-Bilad Islamic Bank which Washington said provided a link to Hizballah.

"The United States will not permit Iran's increasingly brazen abuse of the international financial system," said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

"The global community must remain vigilant against Iran's deceptive efforts to provide financial support to its terrorist proxies."