IRNA � Commander of the IRGC Quds Force Major General Qasem Soleimani said on Tuesday that US sanctions on Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif indicated the effective statements Zarif has made to enlighten the US public opinion.

He made the remarks in a meeting with Zarif on Tuesday morning.

Soleimani said that sanctioning Zarif as head of Iran's foreign policy indicated that he made great impact on the public opinion about ignorance of the US leaders.

He described US act against Zarif as lunatic and as sign of frustration on part of the White House failure.

General Soleimani appreciated the honesty and defending national interests as characteristics of Iranian foreign minister.

He also congratulated Zarif for being sanctioned due to his allegiance to the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.

The US on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Zarif, targeting the country's top spokesman and potentially hurting chances of diplomatic talks amid rising tensions between the two countries.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Ministry in a statement condemned the US administration�s move to sanction Zarif.

The Foreign Ministry said that the latest US measure is a clear sign of the US administration�s frustration.

The new US sanction reveals its administration�s fear and weakness vis-�-vis the Islamic Republic of Iran�s smart diplomacy which is based upon logic, it added.

Zarif told the New York Times earlier this month that little was at stake for him even if he were sanctioned. �I personally do not even have a bank account outside Iran,� he said.

In reaction to the sanctions, Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif wrote on his Twitter account on Thursday after being sanctioned by the US that "dialog and peace" are "existential threats" to the B-team and the Americans never need a permission from the US Treasury to "engage" with him.

Meanwhile, The European Union said earlier that it regrets the US decision to impose sanctions against Iran�s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and vowed to continue working with him.