The Iranian Foreign Ministry said the sanctions were doomed to failure.
The US move came as a senior American diplomat accused Russia and China of aiding and abetting Iran's military.
US Assistant Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said Russia should stop selling weapons to Iran and China should stop investing in the country.
"They're now the number one trade partner with Iran. It's very difficult for countries to say we're striking out on our own when they've got their own policies on the military side, aiding and abetting the Iranian government in strengthening its own military," Mr Burns told the BBC.
Mr Burns said that despite differences with both Russia and China the US still hoped that the UN Security Council would approve a third resolution imposing new sanctions this November.
He said he hoped Iran would be persuaded to move away from confrontation and choose to negotiate.
"We want to be at the negotiating table, we want a peaceful resolution of this dispute. But to reinforce diplomacy, sometimes it has to have a tough side to it," he said.
'Hostile' Americans
The head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Mohammad Ali Jaafari, set the tone for Iran's response to the new sanctions, saying the Guards Corps was now ready to defend the ideals of the revolution more than ever before.
Iran's foreign ministry also condemned the move.
| | REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS Officially the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), or Pasdaran Formed after 1979 revolution Loyal to clerics and counter to regular military Estimated 125,000 troops Includes ground forces, navy, air force, intelligence and special forces Also has political influence: dozens of ex-guard sit as MPs Iran President Ahmadinejad is a former member Source: Globalsecurity.org |
"The hostile American policies towards the respectable people of Iran and the country's legal institutions are contrary to international law, without value and, as in the past, doomed to failure," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.
The BBC correspondent in Tehran, Jon Leyne, says the sanctions could be very damaging for Iran economically.
The Revolutionary Guards are thought to control around a third of the country's economy, including car factories, newspapers and oil and gas fields.
Foreign companies will be deterred from dealing with them or anyone connected with them for fear of economic retaliation by the United States, our correspondent says.
'Destabilising' force
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the new sanctions as part of "a comprehensive policy to confront the threatening behaviour of the Iranians".
The US declared the Revolutionary Guards a "proliferator of weapons of mass destruction", a reference to ballistic missiles they are allegedly developing, while their elite overseas operations arm, the Quds Force, was singled out as a "supporter of terrorism".
The US has repeatedly accused Iran of destabilising Iraq and Afghanistan, blaming the Revolutionary Guards for supplying and training insurgents.
Under Executive Order 13382, US authorities will be able to freeze the assets of, and prohibit any US citizen or organisation from doing business with the Revolutionary Guards.
Iran's ministry of defence, which controls the country's defence industry, three Iranian banks, and several companies owned by the Guards will also be designated.
Ms Rice has reiterated a commitment to finding a diplomatic resolution to the crisis and has offered to meet "my Iranian counterpart any time, anywhere" - words that would be unimaginable coming from the lips of Vice-President Dick Cheney.
Mr Cheney is widely believed to be pressing for a military strike on Iran before the Bush administration's term is over, our correspondent says.
If these sanctions have no effect, Ms Rice may well have to give way to those in and around the White House who believe the time for diplomacy is over, he says.
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