Iran said on Saturday it had imposed sanctions on 61 more Americans, including former secretary of state Mike Pompeo, for backing an Iranian dissident group, as months of talks to revive a 2015 nuclear deal are at an impasse.

While Mr Pompeo emphasised the need to “collaborate to protect our people and partners from the CCP’s exploitation, corruption and coercion,” the others including Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar were measured in their approach, preferring to pin their hopes on a free, inclusive and open Indo-Pacific, without directly targeting China. Mr Pompeo was acerbic as usual, saying “When we met last year, the landscape was very different.