File photo: CGTN

TEHRAN, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on Friday that Iran possesses the right "not to trust" the United States, official news agency IRNA reported.

"I'm surprised by the Americans who are sending a message of negotiation on the one hand and adding to the sanctions list on the other hand," Raisi said, referring to fresh U.S. anti-Iran sanctions on Thursday.

"The world must give us the right not to trust America, because it is a pact-breaker," he noted.

In a statement on Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced imposition of fresh sanctions on three Iranian companies, accusing them of helping "evade sanctions" by supporting the sale of Iran's petrochemical products abroad.

Iran signed a nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the world powers in July 2015, agreeing to curb its nuclear program in return for the removal of the U.S.-led sanctions. However, former U.S. President Donald Trump pulled Washington out of the JCPOA in May 2018 and reimposed unilateral sanctions on Iran.