U.S. State Department "consider tightening new or existing sanctions on Iran"

The U.S. State Department says it is considering strengthening new or existing sanctions against Iran for launching a massive missile attack on Israel.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told a briefing that they could find new ways to impose sanctions on Iran or seek tougher enforcement of existing sanctions, saying they were measures we were looking at.

Miller said he has made it very clear that Iran's attack is an unprecedented act of escalating tensions, adding that Israel has a right to respond and that the United States will discuss the response together.

However, Miller said Israel's designation of U.N. Secretary-General Guterres as a diplomatic evader and banning him from entering the country did not see the move as productive and said it was important for Israel to continue its relationship with the U.N.