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"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" US measures would impact the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal and said Tehran reserved the right to respond, according to state news agency IRNA.

"Iran with due patience and wisdom will take measure toward [its] national security and people's interests," he is quoted as saying.

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 program from entering the US, and blocks transactions on properties held in the US by people associated with the program.

The Iran nuclear deal is designed to monitor and curtail Iran's nuclear program in exchange for economic sanctions relief. Some Iranian officials have suggested that the US posture is itself a violation of the nuclear pact.

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

It's not clear what any retaliatory measures could be, since trade between the two nations is very limited and the US has no diplomatic presence in Iran. However, Iran could potentially use its influence in the region to thwart US foreign policy aims.

"Our friends and allies in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany join us in calling out and condemning Iran's destructive and threatening actions," she said.

"The world must not allow Iran to act in defiance of the Security Council and its resolutions. The United States will be vigilant in ensuring that Iran is held accountable for such behavior."

She also accused Iran of aiding terrorist groups such as Hezbollah.

The country's ballistic missile program and alleged state sponsorship of terrorism are two items not covered by the nuclear deal.

Trump, on the campaign trail and since taking office, has frequently railed against the nuclear deal.

Trump has long promised he would take a tough line on Iran -- including his calls on the campaign trail for the US to tear up or renegotiate the agreement, which he has decried as "the worst deal ever."

At that time, the Trump administration coupled its certification to Congress of Iran's compliance with a blistering critique of Iran's non-nuclear activities, saying Iran was "unquestionably in default of the spirit" of the deal.

"The secretary of state -- and the President -- intends to emphasize that Iran remains one of the most dangerous threats to the US and to regional security," a senior administration official said after the deal was re-certified.

"Moving forward, the administration intends to employ a strategy that will address the totality of Iran's malign behavior and not just focus on the nuclear deal," the official said at the time, foreshadowing the sanctions bill.

Deputy Foreign Minister Araqchi's response came as Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was endorsed by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for his second term after being re-elected in a landslide in May.

Speaking at the endorsement ceremony, Khamenei told the senior officials present to stand up against "any hegemonic power" and labeled the United States "the most aggressive" of all.

"Decades of international relations show us that the price of surrendering to such powers is much heavier than the expense that we pay for being independent of them," he said.

Rouhani brokered the deal with then-US President Barack Obama in 2015, alongside other world leaders and multinational groups.

In Tehran, Arash Asgiari, a 28-year-old hospitality worker, told CNN that sanctions relief after the nuclear deal two years ago improved his livelihood, in part because more foreigners have access to his business.

"My life has improved financially. I am paid better. I see many foreigners coming to Iran. My business is more prosperous," Asgiari said Thursday.

But said he doesn't trust the United States, citing its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I don't believe the US wants to improve things here," he said. "Look at Iraq. ... Look at Afghanistan -- they destroyed it."

CNN's Euan McKirdy wrote from Hong Kong and Nick Paton Walsh reported from Tehran. CNN's Sara Mazloumsaki and Hamdi Alkhshali contributed to this report.

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Iran: US sanctions designed to derail nuclear deal - CNN

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who holds both British and Iranian passports, was arrested in April of last year. Photograph: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe/PA

The British husband of a woman imprisoned in an Iranian jail has appealed to the Foreign Office to raise her case during a visit to Tehran this week.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who holds British and Iranian passports, has decorated her cell with pictures from her infant daughter after being sentenced to five years in jail on secret charges last year, her husband told the Guardian.

Richard Ratcliffe, an accountant who lives in north London, hopes that the Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt will hold talks with senior Iranian politicians about the 38-year-old charity worker, who was arrested in April last year.

Burt is meeting Zaghari-Ratcliffes family and is due to attend the official swearing-in ceremony for the re-elected president, Hassan Rouhani, on Saturday.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested during a trip to Iran with her daughter, Gabriella, to visit family members. The daughter, who is now three, had her passport confiscated before it was returned. She is living with her grandparents in Iran and is allowed to see her mother twice a week.

Ratcliffe, 42, said his wife was finding the separation from her daughter especially difficult. He said he hoped Burt would insist on Zaghari-Ratcliffes rights as a British and Iranian passport holder.

Its one of the quirks of the law and UK policy about dual nationality, Ratcliffe said. Nazanin lives in Britain, she is British, her jobs here, her home is here. She is being held in part, or mainly, because she is British. The way in which you cant do anything about it because she is Iranian seems so counter-intuitive.

Ratcliffe has been campaigning for his wifes release since she was arrested at Tehran airport as she tried to leave the country at the end of her visit. She was accused of trying to topple the Iranian regime.

Iran hides behind dual nationality, said Ratcliffe. The reason they dont allow the British ambassador access to her is because, Oh, she is Iranian, which is a fiction, because the reason they took her is because she is British.

Ratcliffe has applied for an Iranian visa and is hoping to visit Gabriella and Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

I have promised Nazanin I wont do anything with Gabriella without her agreement, because of course the only thing Nazanin lives for at the moment is visits from her daughter. That is the worst thing at the moment, missing these months with her daughter. Nazanin has covered the walls of her cell with pictures drawn by Gabriella during the visits.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been imprisoned at Evin jail for several months and is suffering from mental health problems, as well as physical issues with her shoulder, neck, eyesight and teeth.

Ratcliffe said he had recently had a meeting with Burt, and hoped he would raise the issue during the visit. Labour MPs have criticised the lack of progress.

He was kind, said Ratcliffe. It feels like he cares. I do have a dispute with the Foreign Office that they are not pushing hard enough, and I have made that clear all along, but I do not doubt that he cares.

Ratcliffe said he remained hopeful that his wife would be released but said Foreign Office involvement would be critical. The Foreign Office are never optimistic, said Ratcliffe. They are just guarded.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe is not the only British-Iranian citizen in an Iranian prison. Kamal Foroughi, 77, is being held for alleged espionage. Both Foroughi and Zaghari-Ratcliffe have maintained their innocence.

Ahead of his trip, Burt said the UK was keen to maintain dialogue on issues including the detainees. He said: We hope to build further on improving UK-Iran relations during President Rouhanis second term.

The presidents personal commitment to the nuclear deal is welcome and it is vital both our countries work closely together to ensure the deal continues to be successfully implemented.

We are also keen to maintain dialogue on Irans regional policies, human rights and particularly our dual national detainees. Progress in all of these areas is important to the UK.

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British husband appeals to Foreign Office to help free wife in Iranian jail - The Guardian

The husband of a British-Iranian woman imprisoned in Tehran has spoken of his hopes for her freedom, as a senior Foreign Office minister visits the country.

Alistair Burt will hold talks with senior Iranian politicians and is set to raise the cases of dual national detainees including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Kamal Foroughi.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe is serving a five year jail term in the capital for allegedly plotting to topple the country's government - a charge she has repeatedly denied.

She was arrested at Tehran Airport in April last year while visiting family in Iran with daughter Gabriella.

Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, told Sky News of his hopes that Mr Burt's talks would lead to her freedom.

Mr Ratcliffe said he hoped the politician "raises her case as much as possible, presses the Iranian government that this situation cannot continue, and that she's innocent and should be released".

He said he believed the UK government "sincerely cared" about the case.

But he also complained ministers had never spoken out and criticised her treatment, never said she was innocent and never publicly called for her release.

She has been held alone at Evin prison for the past nine months but Mr Ratcliffe said he had recently been able to talk to her on the phone every week.

He said she was in a "fragile state" and has seen a psychiatrist who diagnosed she has advanced depression.

Mr Ratcliffe said: "She's been talking in very dark terms about what she might do.

"My job is to keep campaigning and to keep her knowing we're all rooting for her, she's not forgotten and we'll try to bring her home as soon as possible."

Mr Foroughi, 77, is held in the same jail for alleged espionage in Iran. He has strenuously maintained his innocence.

He was detained in 2011 before being convicted of espionage and possessing alcohol two years later.

His son, Kamran Foroughi, told Sky News: "I am always grateful for the UK Government's intervention. The longer this goes on, the more worried we are about my dad's health.

"It's very unclear to us what sort of physical state he is in. He sounds okay on the phone...but at that age anything can happen very quickly."

Roya Nobakht is another British-Iranian being held in Evin prison.

She was jailed for five years in 2013 for making anti-government comments on Facebook.

Amnesty International UK warned the Government it must "significantly raise its game" over those being held.

Ahead of his trip Mr Burt said the UK was "keen to maintain dialogue" on issues including the detainees.

He said: "We hope to build further on improving UK-Iran relations during President Rouhani's second term."

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Briton hopes talks will trigger wife's release from prison in Iran - Sky News

Former Blackwater Worldwide security guard Nick Slatter, (2nd from left) and Donald Ball, (3rd from left) arrive with their lawyers at the U.S. District Court before surrendering to authorities in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Dec. 8, 2008. Chris Detrick / Reuters

In deciding to give Slatten a retrial, the

Slatten was the only one who faced a murder charge because prosecutors alleged that he was the first to fire shots at the Iraqi civilians.

They also ruled that the 30-year sentences for Slough, Liberty and Heard violated "the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment."

Related:

The four men were part of a Blackwater security team that carried the code name Raven 23. Their orders were to secure the route for a diplomatic convoy that was set to travel through western Baghdad in September 2007. When a car bomb exploded in downtown Baghdad, the team set up a protective blockade in the traffic circle of Nisur Square and shot 31 innocent Iraqis in an ensuing firefight, the appeals court said.

Fourteen of the Iraqis, including women and children, died.

Prosecutors said that Slatten, who had taken up a concealed position inside the convoys command vehicle with his sniper rifle, initiated the entire incident when he fired the first shots without justifications.

There were no witnesses during the 2014 trial who said that they saw the guards come under threat and no evidence of a two-sided firefight was ever produced.

Blackwater, which became well-known after the 2007 shooting, was renamed Xe Services in 2009 and Academi in 2011.

NBC News could not immediately reach the four mens lawyers for comment.

Erik Prince, the founder and former CEO of Blackwater, is the brother of Education Secretary Betsy Devos.

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Ex-Blackwater Guard's Conviction in Iraq Massacre Overturned, Appeals Court Rules - NBCNews.com

Three years ago this week, disturbing images of women and children fleeing the Islamic State in northern Iraq shocked the world. During the siege of Mt. Sinjar, reports emerged of ISIS militants ruthlessly massacring Yazidi men and kidnapping and enslaving Yazidi women and children. Girls were separated by eye color and sold to ISIS fighters based on their preference. Thousands were trapped on the mountain, desperate for food, water and rescue.

Similarly, Iraqs ancient Christian community was in the crosshairs as ISIS attempted to establish a caliphate. Days after the Sinjar massacre, ISIS seized Qaraqosh, Iraqs largest Christian city with a population of 50,000. Fleeing on foot, many could not escape being killed, kidnapped, or forced to convert. Churches and other holy sites that had stood for centuries were bombed, defaced or destroyed, or turned into torture chambers and weapons storehouses. The full measure of human suffering exacted against these innocent people remains incalculable.

This bloodthirsty campaign targeting ethnic and religious minorities was clearly genocidea term I do not use lightly. At the time, I and many others urged the Obama Administration to officially recognize the Islamic States atrocities for what they were, and then-Secretary of State John Kerry finally did, on March 17, 2016. His declaration that ISIS is responsible for genocide against Christians, Yezidis and other religious minorities was only the second time in history that a U.S. secretary of state made a genocide determinationthe first being Darfur. Both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives unanimously passed resolutions denouncing this genocide.

Unfortunately, it is unclear whether the current administration maintains this determination. It is important for Secretary Tillerson to publicly address this issue and clarify the administrations stance, which my colleagues and I have asked him to do. Even then, words without action will not change the reality on the ground. The Trump Administration must take decisive steps to counter the gravity of the situation: ISIS is seeking to erase thousands of years of history and the people who represent it.

The Bibles Old Testament is full of references to the ancient cities and towns that comprise modern-day Iraq. Abraham hailed from Ur in southern Iraq. Isaacs wife Rebekah was from northwest Iraq. The twelve sons of Jacob were all born in Iraq, and the spiritual revival depicted in the book of Jonah occurred in the city of Nineveh, now known as Mosul. Many of the Christians there still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus, and trace their faith back to the Apostle Thomas. Sadly, their population in Iraq has quickly dwindled from 1.4 million a generation ago to less than 200,000 today.

If the United States fails to take meaningful steps to support these communities, including ensuring their access to humanitarian assistance and the resources they need to rebuild, even more of them will be forced to abandon their ancient homeland. This would be a tragedy on a multitude of levels, and a deathblow to the vision of a diverse, pluralistic, Iraq that respects religious freedom. The State Department has an obligation to ensure vulnerable and persecuted religious minorities, including victims of genocide receive humanitarian aid, as Congress directed in the most recent appropriations legislation.

I will continue to press for oversight and accountability in this area, but the Executive Branch must prioritize the issue, rather than allow the inertia of the State Department bureaucracy to dictate the path forward. President Trump should quickly end the exclusion of genocide-targeted minorities from U.S. humanitarian and reconstruction aid. A presidential directive would provide much-needed guidance to State Department and USAID personnel. I have no doubt that once Governor Sam Brownback is confirmed as ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom, he will be a stalwart advocate on behalf of these beleaguered religious communities.

Additionally, Secretary Tillerson should move swiftly to appoint a special coordinator based in northern Iraq who can directly oversee U.S. assistance and collaborate closely with local partners and civil society groups. The U.S. should not cede this important work to the United Nations Development Fund. Combining these efforts with diplomatic engagement with Iraqs central government and the Kurdistan Regional Government, we can help guarantee the political and economic rights of these beleaguered communities, as well their return and protection.

President Obamas misguided foreign policy did real damage to Iraqs minorities, but these ancient communities could disappear completely on President Trumps watch if his administration fails to help them.

Marco Rubio has been serving as U.S. Senator from Florida since 2011.

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The US Must Act On The Genocide Of Iraq's Christians - The Daily Caller