Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi has slammed Washington’s attempts to meddle in Iran’s domestic affairs as being "cheap," "self-degrading" and ultimately futile.

“US foreign policy team have done their best in vain to intervene in Iran's internal affairs by raising fabricated and baseless issues with cheap literature, self-degrading in a way unprecedented in American history,” Mousavi said in a tweet on Friday.

US Foreign Policy team, have done their best in vain to intervene in Iran's internal affairs by raising fabricated and baseless issues with cheap literature, self-degrading in a way unprecedented in American history. The US misses an inst. with a strategic view on global issues. — S.A MOUSAVI (@SAMOUSAVI9) December 20, 2019

Mousavi made the remarks following US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s announcement of new sanctions against Iran on Thursday.

Pompeo claimed that Washington “has stood, and will stand under President Trump, for the Iranian people" and blamed the Iranian government for human rights violations.

Mousavi said Pompeo, a former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), “does not fit the mold of a foreign minister and has no standing in this field” due to his deceitful manner.

Iranian officials have, on numerous occasions, criticized Washington for its double-faced approach towards Iran. While the US says it has compassion for Iranian people, it has imposed economic sanctions targeting the lives of ordinary Iranians several times.

Washington's crocodile tears

Speaking at a United Nations Security Council meeting on Thursday, Iran's UN envoy Majid Takht-Ravanchi highlighted the death of a two-year-girl, named Ava, as an instance of the negative outcomes of US sanctions targeting Iran’s medical sector.

The girl had been suffering from a rare skin condition known as epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Despite manufacturing most of its own medicine, Iran relies on imported medical supplies to address certain rare conditions such as EB.

Following Thursday's UNSC meeting, an official from Washington's UN mission said that the country's UN envoy Kelly Craft had walked over to talk with Takht-Ravanchi and had expressed her condolences regarding the death of the Iranian toddler.

Iran’s UN mission spokesman Alireza Miryousefi, however, later tweeted that the two UN envoys “merely had a short conversation on EB patients affected by sanctions”.

“It is not out of the ordinary for UN diplomats accredited to the UN to run into each other, or to have brief encounters, at HQ,” Miryousefi added.

Craft had earlier defended US measures against Iran during the UNSC meeting, saying that Washington "will not sit idly by while Iran continues to destabilize the region".

The remarks came just a week after the Trump administration announced that humanitarian goods, such as medicine and food, will not be exempt from new wide sweeping sanctions targeting Iran's transportation industry.