US slaps sanctions on Iranian foreign minister

KABUL (Pajhwok): The United States has imposed sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, the BBC reported on Thursday.

As a result of the Treasury Department’s action, the Iranian foreign minister’s assets in the United States, if any, will be frozen.

"Javad Zarif implements the reckless agenda of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was quoted as saying.

In response to the move, Zarif tweeted the US had slapped curbs on him because it considered him a threat to its agenda.

Zarif asserted the US action "has no effect on me or my family, as I have no property or interest outside of Iran”.

Washington’s reason for designating him was that he acted as Iran's spokesperson around the world, the minister remarked, asking if the truth really was that painful.

Washington-Tehran tensions sharply rose last year when President Donald Trump unilaterally walked out of a nuclear deal signed in 2015.

PAN Monitor/mud