Foreign Affairs

Iran Says White House Is ‘Mentally Retarded’ After Learning Of New Sanctions

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President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said that the White House is “mentally retarded” Tuesday after new sanctions were imposed on the country.

“Hard-hitting sanctions” were placed on Iran by President Donald Trump Monday as tensions between the two countries increased. The sanctions were specifically placed on the Supreme Leader of Iran and the Office of the Supreme Leader, among others. They are intended to deny government officials “key” financial assets that are under U.S. jurisdiction.

….a dangerous journey. We don’t even need to be there in that the U.S. has just become (by far) the largest producer of Energy anywhere in the world! The U.S. request for Iran is very simple – No Nuclear Weapons and No Further Sponsoring of Terror!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 24, 2019

“The White House is afflicted by mental retardation and does not know what to do,” Rouhani said on television Tuesday, according to The Hill.

Rouhani also said that the sanctions were “outrageous and idiotic,” and that the decision by the Trump administration showed Trump was not looking to talk to Iran.

“You [Trump] immediately proved you were lying,” Rouhani said Tuesday, according to BBC. “You are not sincere; you are not looking to negotiate. You could have waited for a little while so that the world could believe that you were sincere.”

Iran’s “strategic patience” does not mean they are afraid of the U.S., Rouhani added. He also said that the Trump administration is “destroying” what the world uses as “mechanisms for maintaining world peace and security,” Aljazeera reported.

“Today, the Americans have become desperate and confused,” Rouhani said, according to The New York Times. “This has made them take unusual measures and talk nonsense.”

Iran shot down an unmanned U.S. Navy drone last week and allegedly attacked two oil tankers June 13 in the Gulf of Oman. The Trump administration planned to launch a military attack against Iran following the incidents, but Trump stopped the attack “10 minutes” before it started at the end of last week. The imposed sanctions signal the “permanent closure of the path of diplomacy,” said Abbas Mousavi, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, according to BBC.