IRAN’S foreign minister has lashed out after the US sanctioned him for his role in the regime’s “unacceptable and reckless” actions.
Javad Zarif was penalised as part of Donald Trump’s escalating campaign of pressure against the Islamic Republic amid the tanker row in the Gulf.
The move of targeting another nation’s top diplomat comes a month after Trump placed sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Zarif was branded leader Khamenei’s “chief apologist” in a tweet by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last night.
But the Iranian diplomat, who was a critical figure in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, dismissed the sanctions and said the move would not affect hm.
“The US’ reason for designating me is that I am Iran’s ‘primary spokesperson around the world’,” Zarif tweeted.
“Is the truth really that painful? Thank you for considering me such a huge threat to your agenda.”
The sanctions against Zarif would block any property or interests he has in the United States, but the Iranian foreign minister said he had none.
He added that calling for peace and dialogue is an “existential threat” to the B Team, a term he uses to refer to a group of leaders.
It includes US national security advisor John Bolton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman, and UAE Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.
‘KEY ENABLER’
Pompeo said Zarif had been targeted because he acted on behalf of the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
“Foreign Minister Zarif is a key enabler of Ayatollah Khamenei’s policies throughout the region and around the world,” Pompeo said in a written statement.
“The designation of Javad Zarif today reflects this reality.”
In a later tweet, Pompeo added: “He’s just as complicit in the regime’s outlaw behaviour as the rest of [Khamenei’s] mafia.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin added: “Javad Zarif implements the reckless agenda of Iran’s Supreme Leader, and is the regimes primary spokesperson around the world.
‘SENDING MESSAGE TO IRAN’
“The United States is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime that its recent behaviour is completely unacceptable.”
Strains between Washington and Tehran have risen in recent months after attacks on tankers in the Gulf that the US blames on Iran.
The decision to impose sanctions on the country’s top spokesman could hurt the chances of diplomatic talks amid rising tensions between the two countries.
Zarif lived in the United States, from the age of 17 as a student of international relations in San Francisco and Denver.
He then worked as a diplomat at the United Nations in New York, where he was Iranian ambassador from 2002 to 2007.
The Trump administration said it would make decisions on whether to grant Zarif travel visas, including for trips to the United Nations, on a case by case basis.
This means he may be granted permission to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly in September.
If Zarif received such a visa, that would allow direct or indirect US contacts with him during that gathering.
A senior US official reiterated that Trump was open to talks with Iran, but said the administration would want to deal with a key decision maker, which it did not consider Zarif to be.
ESCALATING TENSIONS
Tensions have reached breaking point in recent months, with Iran squaring up to the West as it reels over the scrapping of the so-called nuclear deal by the US.
Iran was blamed for a series of devastating sea mine attacks on US-linked oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz in June.
Later that month, Trump called off a planned airstrike on Iranian military targets at the last minute in retaliation for the shooting down of an unmanned US drone.
The US has since downed an Iranian drone near the Persian Gulf with officials saying they used electronic jamming to bring the unmanned craft down.
Iran has also targeted British flagged boats in the region.
FLASHPOINT
Three Iranian boats tried to seize a BP oil tanker as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday July 10.
Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose – which was escorting the tanker through the flashpoint region – was forced to sail in front of the boats.
After quickly training its 30mm deck guns on the enemy boats, deploying its Wildcat helicopter and issuing a radio warning, the Iranian boats scarpered.
HMS Duncan was then deployed to patrol the busy shipping lane as all UK flagged vessels were put on the highest security alert level.
On July 19, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard seized the British-flagged Stena Impero in the Strait of Hormuz.
There is growing concerns for the 23 crew members who are still confined to the vessel, which is moored off the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas.
The seizure of the Stena Impero came two weeks after Royal Marines seized a supertanker believed to be carrying Iranian crude oil to Syria on July 4.
The oil tanker Grace 1 was detained on suspicion it was breaking European sanctions by taking oil to Syria.
TENSIONS IN THE GULF: Timeline
July 4: Royal Marines off the coast of Gibraltar seize an Iranian supertanker suspected of carrying oil to Syria
July 11: HMS Montrose trains its guns on Iran gunboats trying to hijack a British tanker, the BP-owned Heritage
July 18: President Donald Trump reveals the US Navy shot down an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz after warnings were ignored
July 19: Two oil tankers including British-flagged Stena Impero seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard
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News Photo Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif lashes out after US sanctions him for ‘unacceptable’ outbursts
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