By Rebecca Ballhaus 

WASHINGTON -- President Trump on Monday signed an executive order imposing sanctions on Iran, including against its supreme leader.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, where he signed the order, Mr. Trump described the sanctions as "hard-hitting" and said they would deny Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and others access to financial instruments.

"We will continue to increase pressure on Tehran," the president said. He said he was not seeking a conflict with Iran. "I think a lot of restraint has been shown by us, but that doesn't mean we're going to show it in the future."

Mr. Trump's decision to impose sanctions follows mounting tensions between the U.S. and Iran in recent weeks. Washington has blamed Tehran for attacks on tankers, while Tehran downed a U.S. drone and has threatened to violate some terms of the 2015 nuclear deal from which Mr. Trump withdrew the U.S. in May 2018.

Asked if he was imposing the sanctions in response to the downed drone, Mr. Trump said one "could probably add that into this," but said the sanctions were "something that was going to happen anyway."

In mounting its pressure campaign, the U.S. is seeking ultimately to drive the Islamic Republic of Iran's oil exports to zero. It has more recently imposed sanctions on Iran's industrial-metals sector and announced major sanctions on one of the country's biggest petrochemical companies.

Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 24, 2019 12:26 ET (16:26 GMT)

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