Iran FM slams 'illegal' US sanctions

By Ahmet Dursun

ANKARA (AA) – Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif on Wednesday decried U.S. sanctions against the governor of Iran’s central bank as “illegal”.

“Like any other of its measures, the U.S. move is illegal and illegitimate in this respect,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Zarif as saying.

On Tuesday, the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on the governor of Iran’s Central Bank, Valiollah Seif and bank official Ali Tarzali, accusing them of covertly funneling money on behalf of Quds Forces, the external arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

The sanctions include freezing their assets in the U.S. and prohibiting U.S. companies from doing business with them.

The new sanctions came shortly after the U.S. withdrew earlier this month from a nuclear deal with Iran, with President Donald Trump calling it the “worst deal” he has ever seen.

Under the 2015 nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers, Tehran was provided billions of dollars in relief from financial sanctions in return for curbing its nuclear program.