India, Feb. 8 -- The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday condemned an executive order signed by United States President Donald Trump imposing punitive sanctions, countering that the order sought to "harm its independent and impartial judicial work."

The court was established by the Rome Statute, negotiated within the UN - but it is a fully independent court set up to try the gravest crimes, including crimes against humanity. Read our explainer here.

Thursday's executive order said the US government would "impose tangible and significant consequences" on ICC officials who work on investigations that threaten national security of the US and allies - including Israel.

The directive follows the decision by ICC judges to issue arre...