The United States said Monday it was imposing sanctions – which it says are on Iran's defense ministry, two companies and several individuals connected to Iran's nuclear program and demanded that Europe follow suit.

The US Departments of State and Treasury on Monday designated Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL), Iran’s Defense Industries Organization (DIO) and its Director, Mehrdad Akhlaghi-Ketabchi, six individuals and three entities associated with the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), three individuals and four entities associated with Iran’s liquid propellant ballistic missile organization -- the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG) -- while five individuals affiliated with the AEOI were added to the Commerce Department’s Entity List.

The State Department has also designated the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro "for conventional arms-related activities pursuant to the new Iran Conventional Arms Executive Order".

"Rather than waiting for Iran to threaten the world, the U.S. is taking sweeping actions to prevent the world’s top state sponsor of terror from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This includes sanctions on 25 entities and individuals. We are keeping Americans and world citizens safe!," the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted after announcing the new sanctions.

"We will continue and expand our sanctions until Iran is willing to conclude a comprehensive negotiation that addresses the regime’s malign behavior. We are always open to diplomacy with Iran, but Iran must respond with diplomacy, not with more violence, bloodshed, and nuclear extortion. Until then, maximum pressure will continue," a press statement released by the State Department after the announcement of the new sanctions said.

"The United States has now restored UN sanctions on Iran," President Donald Trump who issued a new Executive Order targeting Iran-related conventional arms transfers said in a statement on Monday. "My actions today send a clear message to the Iranian regime and those in the international community who refuse to stand up to Iran."

On Sunday Pompeo said European leaders hadn't lifted a finger to stop arms sales to Iran after the US declared that due to Tehran's breach of the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) with world powers, the UN sanctions on Iran were restored by the virtue of the provision in the agreement known as "snapback".

The Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who delivered a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of the beginning of Iran-Iraq war did not make any mention of the "snapback" of sanctions but in a televised speech on Sunday President Rouhani declared the Security Council's rejection of the US initiative to extend the arms embargo against Tehran as "the defeat of the United States". He also threatened the United States with "stringent measures" if the US takes any practical steps aimed at reimposing the sanctions against Iran.

In a letter to the President of the UN Security Council Abdou Abarry on Saturday, France, Germany and the United Kingdom (E3) once again reiterated their opposition to triggering the snapback mechanism proposed by the US and stressed that they remained committed to full implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 2231 which the JCPOA was endorsed in 2015.

After the security council rejected the US proposal to extend the UN arms embargo on Iran, the US announced that it would seek to trigger the snapback mechanism under the JCPOA resolution 2231.

China, Russia, and the E3 have repeatedly stated that since the US decided to exit the nuclear deal, it cannot legally trigger the snapback mechanism. The US has argued that as a signatory of the deal, it still has the right to do so.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Saturday, September 19 that at 8:00 pm Eastern Time, 30 days after it gave notice to trigger the “snapback” option of the nuclear agreement, it considers all previous UN sanctions to be in effect.