Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced yesterday that the U.S. imposed new sanctions on Iran's metal exports and eight senior Iranian officials.<br />'' <br />'' The new penalties came days after Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Iraqi bases that were housing US targets – a move made in retaliation for an American airstrike in Baghdad that killed Iran's top military leader, Qasem Soleimani.<br />'' <br />'' US President Donald Trump had said on Wednesday that the US will "immediately impose additional punishing economic sanctions on the Iranian regime" following the attacks on American targets in Iraq.<br />'' <br />'' US Treasury also designated 17 Iranian metals producers and mining companies, along with entities based in China and the Seychelles, among other penalties.<br />''        <br />'' The sanctions are the latest move in an aggressive tit-for-tat between Tehran and Washington that escalated sharply over the past few weeks.<br />''        <br />'' Mr Trump yesterday said Iranian general Soleimani was planning attacks against four US embassies before he was killed last week. Officials said, a high-ranking commander in Iran's Islamic Republican Guard Corps (IRGC), Abdul Reza Shahlai was also on US military targeting list but the mission was not successful.<br />''      <br />''<br />''The State Department has offered a USD 15 million reward for information leading to the disruption of IRGC finances, including Shahlai, a key financier in the organization. The State Department said Shahlai has a long history of targeting Americans and US allies globally, and planned multiple assassinations of coalition forces in Iraq.<br />