Iran's foreign minister brushed off U.S. sanctions with a sarcastic tweet

Iran's foreign minister doesn't seem too concerned with President Trump's newest sanctions.

The Treasury Department on Wednesday announced it would sanction Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif after threatening to do so for the past few weeks. Zarif "implements the reckless agenda of Iran's Supreme Leader, and is the regime's primary spokesperson around the world," Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a Wednesday statement.

Under the sanctions, all of Zarif's "property and assets" in the U.S. "must be blocked and reported" to the Treasury Department, per a department release. Zarif's future travel into the U.S. will also be evaluated on a "case-by-case basis." Zarif, meanwhile, doesn't see how the sanctions are even relevant.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

The move comes as tensions continue to escalate between the U.S. and Iran, as each country has shot down the others' drones in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran has continually seized ships in the strategic waterway. Iran also recently announced it violated nuclear enrichment limits set by the 2011 international nuclear deal, which Trump pulled the U.S. out of. Zarif was once America's primary contact regarding the deal, but an official said Wednesday the U.S. no longer considers Zarif to be its "primary point of contact" wth Iran.