A long-range S-200 missile is fired on Dec. 29, 2016 in a military drill in the port city of Bushehr, Iran. (Amir Kholousi/ISNA via AP)

ISTANBUL — Iran on Saturday began massive military exercises in a defiant response to a week of warnings from the Trump administration, including a decision the day before to expand sanctions against individuals working on the country’s ballistic missile program.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s most influential security institution, said it would test missile and radar systems as part of the drill, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency. And a statement on the IRGC website said that the aim of the exercise was “to showcase the power of Iran's revolution and to dismiss the sanctions,” Reuters reported.

Iran last week tested a medium-range ballistic missile, prompting national security adviser Michael Flynn to warn Iranian leaders that they were “on notice.” President Trump later tweeted that Iran was “playing with fire” by testing ballistic missiles, which U.S. officials say is a violation of the 2015 nuclear deal meant to curb Iranian nuclear capabilities. On Friday, the administration announced a new round of sanctions on 25 entities it says are linked to the missile program or to Iran’s support for organizations identified as terrorist groups, such as Lebanon-based Hezbollah.

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The private Mehr News Agency reported Saturday that three types of missiles would be tested as part of the drills, which would take place in Semnan province, east of the capital, Tehran.

The exercises came as Iran’s foreign ministry also threatened sanctions on unnamed U.S. individuals and companies. Last week, the foreign ministry also announced reciprocal measures in response to an executive order temporarily banning nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.

Iran “will take action against a number of American individuals and companies that have played a role in generating and supporting extremist terrorist groups,” the foreign ministry statement said, according to IRNA. The targets of the sanctions would be named later, it said.

Experts say the rising tensions probably won’t unravel the nuclear deal, a multilateral agreement that eases sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country halting its nuclear weapons development.

“Trump is unlikely to tear up the deal and shoulder the full wrath of the international community,” Cliff Kupchan, chairman of political risk firm, Eurasia Group, wrote in a briefing note this week.

In addition to the multilateral deal, a follow-up resolution from the U.N. Security Council also calls on Iran to refrain from testing ballistic missiles capable of nuclear payloads. But there is disagreement over whether such tests violate the resolution — Iran insists the missile tests are part of its conventional weapons program and do not violate the multilateral agreement.

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Throughout his campaign for the presidency, Trump blasted the nuclear deal and vowed to renegotiate the terms.

“US-Iran relations will be volatile under the Trump Administration,” Kupchan wrote. And Trump “will likely implement sanctions more frequently.”

Iranian officials this week reiterated the country’s right to maintain defense capabilities. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted Friday that Iran was “unmoved” by the threats.

“We will never use our weapons against anyone, except in self-defense,” he said.

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