Press TV - The United States' "cruel" sanctions on the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and its head, Ali Akbar Salehi, will fail to interrupt the Islamic Republic's peaceful nuclear program, says the nuclear body.

In a Twitter post on Friday, the AEOI slammed the "unwise" move by US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Iran's nuclear organization and its chief, which "will not in any way interrupt the peaceful nuclear activities and policies."

"Such cruel sanctions will further enhance the nuclear scientist motives in neutralizing the hostile US policies," it added.

The US Treasury Department announced new sanctions on Salehi on Thursday, adding his name to the SDN (Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons) List of the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).

The Treasury will, however, issue waivers to sanctions that bar non-US firms from continuing their work in certain AEOI-related projects such as the heavy water reactor in Arak, the Fordow enrichment facility, the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Tehran research reactor.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Abbas Mousavi earlier in the day blasted the new sanctions on the country's nuclear chief.

"Sanctioning this prominent scientific and political figure, which has been made only out of desperation, will have no effect on the development of the Islamic Republic of Iran's peaceful nuclear program," Mousavi said.