Washington D.C., Aug 2, 2019 / 10:00 am
The Trump administration added another high-ranking Iranian official this week to its list of sanctions against Iran, inviting continued discussion about the morality of lethal and non-lethal means of resolving conflicts.
The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it would take action against Iran's foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as the "face" of the regime in Iran. The move is a continuation of President Trump's Executive Order 13876 in June, which issued sanctions against Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei and his office, and placed Supreme Leader Khameni on the Office of Foriegn Assets Control (OFAC) List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons.
As part of that order, Zarif on Wednesday was added to the OFAC list, which freezes the U.S. assets of the named individuals and prevents people in the U.S. from dealing with them.
A senior administration official told reporters on Wednesday that Zarif "is the international face of this regime," spreading "propaganda" on behalf of its "nuclear program," "terrorist network," execution of homosexuals and detention of Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian.