Iran: US imposed sanctions on FM after he rejected to meet Trump

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif said yesterday that the US imposed sanctions on him after he had refused to meet with US President Donald Trump, DPA reported.

Speaking in a press conference in Tehran, Zarif said: “While I was in New York, I was informed that sanctions to be imposed on me if I did not accept the invitation [to meet with Trump]… I did not accept it.”

He added on Twitter: “I also said that while @realdonaldtrump may want photo op, the US isn’t interested in talks; rather, Iran’s submission. That will never happen..”

I also said that while @realdonaldtrump may want photo op, the US isn't interested in talks; rather, Iran's submission. That will never happen.

An example of US tactics: Threatening to designate somebody in two weeks unless he accepts your invitation to chat in the Oval Office.

— Javad Zarif (@JZarif) August 5, 2019

He added: “An example of US tactics: Threatening to designate somebody in two weeks unless he accepts your invitation to chat in the Oval Office.”

Last week, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Zarif because he “acted or purported to act for or on behalf of, directly or indirectly, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

READ: Oil tankers attacks see surge after US-Iran sanctions

The sanctions included freezing all of Zarif’s US assets and prohibiting any US person or entity from dealing with him.

Zarif stressed that his country would not give up diplomacy. “All of us come and go, but diplomacy remains,” DPA reported him saying.