TEHRAN, April 16. /TASS/. Tehran denounces Washington’s new sanctions against Moscow and considers them as a step in the wrong direction, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said on Friday.

"Khatibzadeh called the US government’s actions for announcing new sanctions against Russia an erroneous step in the wrong direction, which it [the Iranian Foreign Ministry] completely rejects," the ministry’s press office reported.

According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, "the US government’s inclination for sanctions on other countries under false pretexts has become the country’s institutionalized approach."

"A change of the [US presidential] administration has not influenced this approach in any way," he stressed.

US President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Thursday to impose new sanctions against Russia. In particular, Washington banned US companies from directly buying bonds issued by Russia’s Central Bank, the National Wealth Fund or the Finance Ministry after June 14, 2021.

The US Treasury also imposed sanctions against 16 entities and 16 individuals over Moscow’s alleged interference in the US elections while eight citizens and companies were sanctioned over their ties with Crimea, including members of the republic’s government.

The United States will also expel 10 personnel from the Russian diplomatic mission in Washington D.C. whom the Biden administration considers as "representatives of Russian intelligence services."