U.S. Puts Sanctions On Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif, Who Says They Won’t Affect Him

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Wednesday imposed
sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif,
targeting the country’s top spokesman and potentially hurting
chances of diplomatic talks amid rising tensions between the two
countries.

Zarif, a critical figure in the 2015 Iran nuclear deal,
dismissed the action and said it would not affect him.

U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the
deal last year and ramped up sanctions to put pressure on Iran’s
economy. The move dismantled part of President Barack Obama’s
legacy and upset U.S. allies who were party to the agreement, which
was designed to restrict Tehran’s pathway to a nuclear bomb in
exchange for sanctions relief.

Strains between Washington and Tehran have risen more in recent
months after attacks on tankers in the Gulf that the United States
blames on Iran and Iran’s downing of a U.S. drone that prompted
preparations for a U.S. retaliatory air strike that Trump called
off at the last minute.

“Javad Zarif implements the reckless agenda of Iran’s Supreme
Leader, and is the regime’s primary spokesperson around the world.
The United States is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime
that its recent behavior is completely unacceptable,” Treasury
Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement.

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.

“The US’ reason for designating me is that I am Iran’s ‘primary
spokesperson around the world’,” Zarif said on Twitter. “Is the
truth really that painful? It has no effect on me or my family, as
I have no property or interests outside of Iran. Thank you for
considering me such a huge threat to your agenda.”

Zarif lived in the United States, from the age of 17 as a
student of international relations in San Francisco and Denver, and
subsequently 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, holding open the possibility that
he might attend the annual U.N. General Assembly in September.

If Zarif received such a visa, that would allow direct or
indirect U.S. contacts with him during that gathering, which brings
most of the world’s leaders to New York and has been the venue for
previous U.S.-Iranian contacts.

NEGOTIATOR
A senior U.S. 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.

Zarif, who has said a so-called B-team including Trump’s
national security adviser John Bolton, an ardent Iran hawk, and
conservative Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could goad
Trump into a conflict with Tehran, said in a later tweet: “We know
that calling for dialog & peace is an existential threat to
#B_Team.”

Senator Chris Murphy, a Democratic member of the Foreign
Relations Committee, questioned the administration’s move.

“If our position is really that we want to negotiate with Iran
than maybe we shouldn’t sanction their chief negotiator,” Murphy
posted on Twitter.

Wendy Sherman, who was the lead U.S. negotiator for the Iran
nuclear deal under Obama, echoed that view and said placing
sanctions on Zarif “risks dangerous escalation.”

She linked the action to what Bolton said was a U.S. decision to
renew sanctions waivers for Iranian nuclear programs that allow
Russia, China and European countries to continue their civilian
nuclear cooperation with Tehran.

“One assumes sanctioning Zarif is the price for those waivers.
The internal administration battle of war or diplomacy apparently
wages on,” said Sherman, who is director of the Center for Public
Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School.

On June 24 Trump targeted Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
Khamenei and other top Iranian officials with sanctions.

Mnuchin said then that Zarif would be blacklisted that week, but
the designation did not happen quickly. Reuters reported in
mid-July that the administration had decided to hold off on
sanctions against him for the time being.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday the Trump
administration still sought a diplomatic solution but said Zarif’s
foreign ministry was advancing the Iranian Supreme Leader’s
“destabilizing” policies.

“The only path forward is a comprehensive deal that addresses
the full range of its threats. Until then, our campaign of
diplomatic isolation and maximum economic pressure will continue,”
Pompeo said.

Mnuchin said Zarif used social media to spread Iranian
“propaganda and disinformation” while the government did not allow
its citizens to use such mediums themselves.