Your sanctions on Iran are illegal, Russia reminds US

Moscow: Russia on Monday denounced as "illegal" new economic sanctions that the United States is preparing to impose on Iran.

"We consider these sanctions illegal," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a briefing.

Tensions between Washington and Tehran have flared since Iranian forces on Thursday shot down a US drone, the latest in a series of incidents including attacks on tankers in sensitive Gulf waters.

US President Donald Trump on Friday called off a planned retaliatory strike at the last minute, tamping down the threat of military action.

He said Washington would instead place "major additional sanctions on Iran on Monday".

Last year, Trump unilaterally pulled the US out of a landmark 2015 deal meant to curb Iran's nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief.

Russia is one of the world powers that negotiated the deal with Tehran and has harshly criticised US moves to undermine the agreement.

Meanwhile, The United States on Monday was due to tighten sanctions on Iran as the two countries traded barbs in a tense standoff sparked by Washington's withdrawal from a nuclear deal.

Both nations say they want to avoid going to war, but tensions have spiralled as a series of incidents, including attacks on tankers and the shooting down of a US drone by Iran in the Gulf, raised fears of an unintended slide towards conflict.

On Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said a US-made MQ9 Reaper "spy drone" — also widely used for carrying out military strikes — had encroached his country's airspace on May 26.

He made the allegation in a tweet that included a map purporting to show the drone had violated Iranian airspace.

It was dismissed as "child-like" by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo as he headed to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates for Iran talks with the two US allies.

Zarif's statement came after Iran said it had shot down a US Global Hawk drone on Thursday for violating its airspace near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, which the United States denies.