TEHRAN, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif on Thursday denounced as "unlawful" the recent U.S. sanctions on two Turkish ministers.

Such measures show Washington's "addiction" to sanctions which have no limits, Zarif was quoted as saying by local media.

"U.S. unlawful sanctions against two Turkish ministers, from an allied country, illustrates not just the U.S. administration's policy of pressure and extortion in lieu of statecraft, but that its addiction to sanctions knows no bounds," Zarif said.

The reaction by Zarif came after the White House announced Wednesday that the U.S. Treasury Department had imposed sanctions on Turkey's Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu for not releasing detained American pastor Andrew Craig Brunson.

Brunson is being tried in Turkey on espionage and terror-related charges.