The top priority now is to ease the tensions and return to dialogue and negotiation as soon as possible, Lin said.

　　Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in his meeting on Monday in Tehran with Pakistan's Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir that the US must change its tone and approach in dealing with Iran, Mehr News agency reported.

　　In a separate meeting with Munir on Monday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said that Tehran remains determined to pursue implementation of the provisions of the US-Iran peace memorandum of understanding signed in June, Tasnim News Agency reported.

　　Washington and Tehran have been at odds since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the hostage crisis, in which Iranian students seized the US embassy in Tehran and took US diplomats hostage. Washington has imposed a slew of sanctions on Tehran and steadily expanded them over the past four decades.

　　Experts said the latest move is likely to add fresh layers of disruption and complexity to the global economy and diplomatic efforts, particularly as Tehran maintains close communication with regional neighbors and mediators such as Oman and Pakistan.

　　Jawaid Iqbal, vice-chancellor of Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University in India, told China Daily that the US has been blowing hot and cold over the past several weeks with regard to Iran.

　　"This in itself is proof that the US is not in a position to dictate its peace terms with Iran," Iqbal said. "The latest threat of sanctions shows that Washington is trying to somehow extricate itself from a messy situation of its own making."

　　"Iran, on the other hand, will not bow down to Washington's terms and conditions so easily. It knows that by retaliating against America's regional allies, it can submerge the entire Gulf into chaos, which will in turn create turmoil in the world economy," he added.