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Relations between Iran and the U.S. are going from bad to worse. Tehran slapped sanctions on 15 U.S. companies Sunday in retaliation for American sanctions announced last month.

"Imposition of new sanctions by the U.S. is based on fabricated and illegitimate pretexts and amount to an action against international regulations," Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Boeing (BA) signed an $8 billion deal to sell 80 jets to Iran Air after many sanctions were lifted as part of an international deal on the country's nuclear program.

The planemaker is not on the list of Tehran's targets, which includes Raytheon (RTN), Oshkosh (OSK) and Bushmaster. None of them currently does any business with Iran.

"The sanctions from the Iranian side don't really have any practical importance to them," said Robin Mills, CEO of Qamar Energy and an expert on Middle East energy and investment. "These U.S. defense companies obviously don't have any assets or activities in Iran. It's just trying to score political points."

Related: Chinese firm fined $1.2 billion for violating U.S. sanctions on Iran

But the rising tension puts Boeing's plans on an increasingly shaky footing.

"[The Boeing deal] is a key pressure point I think because that is of course one of the few areas where U.S. trade with Iran has been specifically allowed," said Mills.

President Trump has long been critical of the Iran nuclear deal that was signed under the Obama administration.

After assuming office, Trump said he was putting Iran "on notice" and his first move against the country was including its citizens on a travel ban.

Tehran then conducted a missile test which prompted a round of U.S. sanctions that targeted 25 individuals and companies connected to Iran's ballistic missile program and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The next big test for Boeing's deal is likely to come in June, when sanction waivers signed by President Obama will be due for renewal. It's the first time Trump will have to sign them.

"The next round of waivers... are absolutely crucial," said Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council. "If the Trump administration doesn't renew them, the United States will be in direct violation of the deal. If so, the deal will start collapsing and the United States will be blamed for its collapse."

Related: Trump's move on Iran could cost jobs at Boeing

To complicate matters, a bill has been introduced in Congress to investigate whether Iran Air supports the Iranian Revolutionary Guard or foreign terrorist organizations.

If Iran Air were found to have such links, it would be prevented from receiving new aircraft or U.S.-made parts. That would effectively freeze the sale of jets from Boeing to Iran.

The first Boeing planes are scheduled to arrive in 2018.

CNNMoney (Dubai) First published March 27, 2017: 1:10 PM ET

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How long can Boeing's Iran deal survive? - CNNMoney

DUBAI--Iran on Sunday sanctioned 15 American companies in retaliation for restrictions that the Trump administration imposed on companies and people allegedly connected with its ballistic-missile program.

Iran had vowed reciprocal action soon after the Trump administration's move last month, one of several escalations between Iran and the U.S. since President Donald Trump took office in January.

The new strains could hamper regional peacemaking efforts, roll back the Obama administration's nuclear diplomacy with Iran, and even lead the countries into more direct confrontation.

Iran is deeply involved in the six-year Syrian civil war, and is a key player along with the U.S. in international talks toward a political solution. During Mr. Obama's administration, Iran reached a nuclear deal with six world powers including the U.S. that edged toward repairing a long-frayed relationship.

Mr. Trump, however, promised to rip up the nuclear deal during his campaign. Last month, he tweeted that Iran was "on notice" over its ballistic-missile program. Iran was also among the Muslim-majority countries whose citizens were barred from entering the U.S. under two executive orders that the Trump administration said aimed to keep terrorists out. Those orders have been stayed by federal judges.

Iran's sanctions on Sunday mainly targeted American defense companies, including the Massachusetts-based defense giant Raytheon Co., the Minnesota-based firearms manufacturer Magnum Research Inc., and Illinois firearms manufacturer Lewis Machine and Tool Co., singling them out for allegedly helping Israel and contributing to regional instability, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency, citing a Foreign Ministry statement.

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Other companies sanctioned included Denver-based real-estate giant Re/Max Holdings Inc., which the ministry said had a role in Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories. Re/Max and the other companies didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dealings with the named companies were prohibited, the ministry said, and their assets in the Islamic Republic were frozen. Representatives for the companies wouldn't be given visas, it said.

It wasn't clear if any of the companies had any ongoing business with the country or assets that could be frozen.

Tehran called the Trump administration's sanctions in February an affront to its right to self-defense and a violation of 2015's nuclear deal. Under that deal--a foreign-policy priority for the Obama administration--the U.S., European Union and United Nations lifted many sanctions against Iran in exchange for curbs on its disputed nuclear program.

"The imposition of new sanctions by the U.S. is based on fabricated and illegitimate pretexts and amounts to an action against international regulations as well as the word and spirit of the [nuclear deal]," Iran's Foreign Ministry said, according to IRNA.

A U.N. Security Council resolution endorsing the nuclear deal called upon Iran not to develop ballistic missiles designed to be capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Iran has continued to conduct ballistic missile tests since the deal, insisting that the weapons are for self-defense and aren't designed to carry such warheads.

Trump administration officials have said Iran's tests, including one in January, were violations of the U.N. resolution.

See more here:
Iran Imposes Sanctions on 15 US Firms - Fox Business

Iran says Bahrain had better stop suppressing freedom within its own border instead of throwing groundless accusations against the Islamic Republic.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi made the remarks on Monday after Manama claimed to have uncovered a terrorist group linked to Tehran.

The spokesman called the accusation a baseless and fruitless lie saying it was a source of wonder that Bahraini authorities still insisted on repeating such claims against Iran.

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Instead of [playing] fruitless and repetitive blame games, Bahrain had better direct its efforts towards observing the rights of Bahraini citizens, ending crackdown and detention of intellectuals, and according freedom of speech to all the ranks within the Bahraini society, he said.

The official advised Manama towork toward managingits domestic affairs in a wiser, more tactful, and rational manner and observethe principle of good neighborliness with the Islamic Republic.

The kingdom has been leading a ruthlesscrackdown against domestic dissent since 2011, killing scores of protesters with the help of Saudi Arabia.

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Iran dismisses Bahraini 'lies' against Tehran - Press TV

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says the Trump administration "has put Iran on notice," and will not tolerate Iranian efforts to "destabilize the region and jeopardize Israel's security."

His comments Sunday night in Washington came at the opening of the three-day annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Pence said U.S. commitment to Israel is "non-negotiable," and that President Donald Trump is committed to finding a lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

He also said the president is seriously considering moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Such a move could seriously impair peace efforts, with Palestinians viewing East Jerusalem as the capital of their state under a two-state solution.

Pence also reiterated the administration's opposition of the deal the U.S. and five other nations struck with Iran during the administration of former President Barack Obama to curb the Iranian nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.The vice president criticized what he called the "disastrous end" of economic sanctions that were put in place amid allegations Iran was working to develop nuclear weapons, which Iran has denied.

The AIPAC conference opened just days after a bipartisan coalition of U.S. senators introduced legislation calling for new sanctions against the Islamic Republic, targeting Tehran's ballistic missile testing and its alleged support of terrorism.

In opening remarks Sunday, Israel's U.S. Ambassador Ron Dermer voiced hope for improved bilateral ties under President Trump, saying "there was a meeting of the minds" when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Trump last month at the White House.

"This has made me even more confident that our alliance will be considerably stronger in the years ahead," Dermer said in comments widely quoted in Israeli media.

Outside the conference venue, several hundred protesters from the anti-Israeli occupation group "IfNotNow" marched, some of them carrying placards and banners denouncing Israel's occupation of the West Bank.

One banner read: "Jews Won't be Free Until Palestinians Are.Reject AIPAC, reject Occupation."

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Pence: Trump Administration 'Has Put Iran on Notice' - Voice of America

ISIS rarely takes on Iran in Farsi, but the terror group has released a propaganda film aimed at Tehran out of its Diyala Province arm. Diyala stretches from Baghdad to Iraqs border with Iran and was the nerve center of ISIS operations before the group spread into the north and west of the country.

The video, 36 minutes long, is titled Persia between yesterday and today, and along with the threats to attack Iran, the Islamic State also accuses Tehran of persecuting Sunnis who live in Iran. The group alleges that more than 18,000 Sunnis living in Iran have been executed there since the 1979 revolution. Execution by hanging is the preferred method of killing Sunnis in Iran, the video notes.

The video denouncesthe current Islamic Republic there as an un-Islamic regime that copied democratic institutions from the west. It featuredfour Farsi-speaking ISIS fighters criticizing Tehran for its hostility towards Sunnis and called on the Sunnis living in Iran to rise up against the theocratic regime. One called for attacks on mosques in Tehran, Isfahan and to burn the land beneath their feet.

Iran is deeply involved in both Iraq and Syrias efforts to rout the Islamic State from those countries. It is funding and equipping Shiite militias in Iraq and in Syria.

ISIS claims of Iranspersecution of Sunnis likely touch on reports thatIran has one of the highest execution rates in the world, according to Amnesty International.Tehran is said to have executed at least 977 people in 2015, mainly for drug-related crimes, farmore than countries like Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Human rights organizations have warned ofmass executions of Sunnis in Iran andcalled onIran to lift restrictions faced by Irans Sunnis, who make up about nine percent of the population.

ISIS claimsIran hasexecuted over 18,000 Sunnis since 1979 in a new video releasedon Sunday

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ISIS Directs Threats To Iran In Farsi In New Video - Vocativ