Iran announces 'reciprocal action' against Trump administration sanctions

Iran announced it will take "reciprocal action" against US individuals and companies after President Donald Trump's administration on Friday imposed new sanctions on Tehran over its weapons procurement network.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran, in response to the new move by the United States of America and as a reciprocal action, will impose legal limitations for some American individuals and companies that have had a role in the creation and support of extreme terrorist groups in the region," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Trump raised the stakes in Washington's increasingly tense stand-off with Iran on Friday, slapping fresh sanctions on Tehran's weapons procurement network.

Officials said the new measures were in response to Iran's recent ballistic missile test and its support for Houthi rebels in Yemen, who recently targeted a Saudi warship.

The sanctions do not, officials say, mark a retreat from US commitments under the Iran nuclear deal to lift measures targeting Tehran's alleged bid to build a nuclear warhead.

But Trump has made no secret of his contempt for the accord, which his predecessor Barack Obama approved in July 2015, and officials said Friday's new measures would not be the last.

"Iran is playing with fire - they don't appreciate how 'kind' President Obama was to them. Not me!" Trump tweeted on Friday.

US intelligence and Treasury officials are constantly scrutinising Iran's networks, looking for evidence of extremist funding and advanced weapons procurement.

The immediate trigger for the sanctions was Iran's test, on Sunday, of a ballistic missile that US officials judge to have been capable of one day carrying a nuclear warhead.

But the latest detailed list of entities added to the list has clearly been in preparation for some time, and the White House has said "nothing is off the table" in dealing with Iran.