Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Tuesday that "any attack on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force,” after Iran’s foreign ministry said that the path of diplomacy between Iran and the US had been “permanently closed” and Iran’s president called the White House “mentally retarded.”

On Monday, Trump announced additional sanctions against Iran in response to the downing of the American drone last week.

He noted that the sanctions this time would also target the leaders of the regime in Tehran, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi slammed the sanctions on Tuesday, calling them “useless” and asserting that they signified "the permanent closure of the path of diplomacy."

“Imposing useless sanctions on Iran’s Supreme Leader and the commander of Iran’s diplomacy is the permanent closure of the path of diplomacy,” Mousavi said on Twitter, according to Reuters.

“Trump’s desperate administration is destroying the established international mechanisms for maintaining world peace and security,” he added.

Iranian president Hassan Rouhani later mocked the White House in a televised address.

“The White House actions mean it is mentally retarded,” Rouhani said, according to Reuters. “Tehran’s strategic patience does not mean we have fear.”

Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, blasting Iranian leadership.

“Iran leadership doesn’t understand the words ‘nice’ or ‘compassion,’ they never have. Sadly, the thing they do understand is Strength and Power, and the USA is by far the most powerful Military Force in the world, with 1.5 Trillion Dollars invested over the last two years alone.”

“The wonderful Iranian people are suffering, and for no reason at all,” Trump continued. “Their leadership spends all of its money on Terror, and little on anything else. The U.S. has not forgotten Iran’s use of IED’s & EFP’s (bombs), which killed 2000 Americans, and wounded many more.”

“Iran’s very ignorant and insulting statement, put out today, only shows that they do not understand reality. Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration. No more John Kerry & Obama!” Trump concluded.