The Iranian Foreign Ministry has condened the latest sanctions imposed by the U.S. on its ballistic missile programme, saying they are illegal and unacceptable.

The ministry in a statement on Thursday, said Iran’s plan to increase its military capacity is not a violation of the country’s nuclear agreement with world powers.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday, had sanction Iran over concerns about the country’s its ballistic missile programme.

The ban focused on seven aspects, including two top Iranian defence officials and a China-based network supplying material to Iran’s missile programme.

According to sources, one of the Iranian defence officials was involved in explosives sales to Syria.

Iran said that the sanctions contravened a deal it reached in July 2015 with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, which allows Iran to use nuclear power for civilian purposes in return for dropping sanctions.

Iran is prohibited from undertaking any activity related to ballistic missiles designed to be capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, under UN Security Council resolution 2231.

The U.S. State Department said that Trump’s administration is re-evaluating its relationship with Iran, including whether to remain in the nuclear deal, but is meanwhile taking action against Iran over human rights abuses, its missile programme and other areas of concern.