The United States on Wednesday said it was “disappointed” by the ruling of the International Court of Justice that it can take up Iran’s bid to overturn US sanctions reimposed by Donald Trump.

In a sharp shift in tone from Trump’s “America First” rhetoric, President Joe Biden’s State Department said it had “great respect” for the UN’s top court.

However, State Department spokesman Ned Price in a press briefing said: “We are disappointed that the court did not accept our well-founded legal arguments that the case Iran brought is outside the court’s jurisdiction.”

He criticized Iran for casting the ruling as a victory, saying that the court had issued “a preliminary ruling, not a decision on the merits.”

“In the next phase of this case we’ll explain why Iran’s claim has no merits,” Price said, AFP reported.

“We remain clear-eyed about the dangers posed by Iran’s malign activities and that’s again why we are undertaking the important diplomacy, that we are at the moment.”

The Biden administration also denied speculation of any plans to open direct contacts with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who has called for improved relations after tension with Trump.

“We certainly don’t expect any contact with Maduro anytime soon,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters, calling him a “dictator.”

On Wednesday, Price also lambasted the “rhetoric” against sexual minorities in Turkey after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan termed the LGBT movement and compared student protesters as “terrorists.”

Erdogan lashed out on Wednesday in one of his most heated attacks to date against a movement that threatens to grow into a serious challenge to his 18 years in power.

“Are you students or terrorists who dare to raid the room of the rector?” Erdogan demanded in a televised video linkup with his party faithful.

“This country will not be a place where terrorists prevail. We will never allow this.”

“We are concerned by detentions of students and other demonstrators and strongly condemn the anti-LGBTQIA rhetoric surrounding the demonstrations,” Price said reacting to the Turkish President’s stand.

Talking to the reporters, the State Department spokesman condemned the detention Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi and called on Myanmar’s military to free the ousted leader.

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Suu Kyi was charged after being detained in a coup, while calls for civil disobedience opposing the putsch gathered pace.

The United States said it was “disturbed” by the charges.

“We call on the military to immediately release them all,” Ned Price told reporters of Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders.

The Southeast Asian nation was plunged back into direct military rule when soldiers arrested key civilian leaders in a series of dawn raids Monday, ending the army’s brief flirtation with democracy.

Suu Kyi, who has not been seen in public since, won a huge landslide with her National League for Democracy (NLD) last November, but the military — whose favoured parties received a drubbing — declared the polls fraudulent.

On Wednesday, the NLD’s press officer said the 75-year-old Suu Kyi was formally charged with an offence under Myanmar’s import and export law, with a court signing off on two weeks’ remand.