Maximum pressure on Iran

The US imposed sanctions on Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif yesterday, reducing the likelihood of a diplomatic solution to tension that has nearly driven Washington and Tehran to war. The sanctions prohibit Mr Zarif from making transactions to or through the US.

He was designated for acting on behalf of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was sanctioned in June. “Javad Zarif implements the reckless agenda of Iran’s supreme leader and is the regime’s primary spokesperson around the world,” Steve Mnuchin, the US Treasury Secretary, said in a statement. “The United States is sending a clear message to the Iranian regime that its recent behaviour is completely unacceptable.”

The administration of US President Donald Trump announced last month that it planned to sanction Mr Zarif. The Iranian diplomat played an instrumental role in negotiating the 2015 nuclear deal from which the Trump administration withdrew in 2017. “We do not consider him to be our primary point of contact,” a US official said. The official accused Mr Zarif of spreading the regime’s propaganda.

Asked whether Mr Zarif, who recently visited New York for a UN session, would be allowed to travel to the US, the official said Washington would treat his visa applications with “a high degree of scepticism”. The official said those attending the UN meetings in September would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

The order warns that “persons who engage in certain transactions with the individual designated today may themselves be exposed to designation”. Mr Zarif is known to engage with the policy and experts community in the US.