伊朗对美国针对伊朗政府及其中央银行的新制裁表示不屑一顾，声称这些措施不过是“心理战”。伊朗外交部发言人曼帕拉斯特星期二说，伊朗与美国之间本来就没有金融交易，因此这些制裁不会有作用。
在 曼帕拉斯特讲话的前一天，美国总统奥巴马发布行政命令，授予美国银行冻结伊朗政府资产的新权力。奥巴马说，伊朗银行为了掩盖交易进行“欺骗性的做法”，而 且伊朗的一些活动对全球金融系统构成“持续、不可接受的风险”。美国和欧盟最近几周加紧了对伊朗中央银行和石油产业的经济制裁，以此向德黑兰施压，要求它 停止铀浓缩工作。铀浓缩有军事用途，也可民用。伊朗表示，其核项目以民用为目的。白宫星期一说，这些制裁“严重影响”了伊朗经济，并有助于加深伊朗领导人 之间的紧张关系。
Iran has dismissed new U.S. sanctions targeting its government and central bank, calling the measures "psychological war." Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Tuesday Iran has no financial transactions with the United States and that the sanctions will have no effect.
His comments come a day after U.S. President Barack Obama released an executive order giving U.S. banks new powers to freeze Iranian government assets. Mr. Obama cited "deceptive practices" by Iranian banks to conceal transactions as well as the "continuing and unacceptable risk" that Iran's activities pose to the global financial system.The United States and European Union have tightened economic sanctions on the Iranian central bank and Iran's oil industry in recent weeks to pressure Tehran to stop uranium enrichment - a process that has military and civilian applications. Iran says its nuclear program is for civilian purposes.The White House said Monday the sanctions have had a "significant impact" on the Iranian economy and have helped worsen tensions among Iranian leaders.