"The Iran sanctions have officially been cast. These are the most biting sanctions ever imposed, and in November they ratchet up to yet another level," President Donald Trump wrote in a tweet. | Mandel Ngan/Getty Images Trump: U.S. seeking 'world peace, nothing less' with Iran sanctions

President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that he is seeking "world peace" by imposing "the most biting sanctions ever" against Iran, the latest example of escalating tensions between the two nations.

The sanctions were softened by the Obama administration as part of a landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran. Trump scrapped that deal in May, putting sanctions back into effect as of early Tuesday morning. Additional sanctions on Iran will go into effect in early November.


"The Iran sanctions have officially been cast. These are the most biting sanctions ever imposed, and in November they ratchet up to yet another level," Trump wrote in a tweet. "Anyone doing business with Iran will NOT be doing business with the United States. I am asking for WORLD PEACE, nothing less!"

Tuesday's round of sanctions target the Iranian auto industry, gold, silver and other metals. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters Monday the sanctions will remain in place until Iran's regime makes an "enormous change" and that there are "bad actors" in the Iranian government.

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Just last week, Trump floated the possibility of a meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to hash out a new version of a nuclear deal, no preconditions required. The invitation came days after Trump threatened Rouhani and Iran with "consequences the likes of which few throughout history have ever suffered before" in an all-caps response to incendiary rhetoric from the Islamic Republic.

Later in the day, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif took to Twitter to bash Trump as a "warmonger." The Iranian foreign minister also took aim at the president's all-caps outburst.

"Reminder: International relations is not a beauty pageant, with tired clichés about a desire for WORLD PEACE. And it is not the first time that a warmonger claims he is waging war for 'world peace,'" Zarif said on Twitter. "Tantrums & CAPPED TWEETS won't change the fact that the world is sick & tired of US unilateralism. Stopping US trade and killing 100K US jobs is fine with us, but the world won't follow impulsive tweeted diktats. Just ask EU, Russia, China & dozens of our other trading partners."

While Trump has been more than willing to lob threats at adversarial nations around the globe, he has been similarly willing to meet face-to-face with strongmen. The president met earlier this summer with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to begin denuclearization talks after trading insults with Kim last year. Trump also held a warm meeting last month with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, another country that faces U.S. sanctions.

