In line with its “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, the U.S. on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. 

While the Trump administration claims it is seeking diplomacy with Iran, sanctioning Zarif is closing the door to diplomacy. It is pure hypocrisy.

The action is being opposed by France, Britain and Germany, three Washington’s allies which are party to the 2015 nuclear deal. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democratic senator, has also criticized the move, saying, “This doesn’t move us closer to peace, it further escalates an already tense situation.” 

Trump and his Iran hawks such as John Bolton and Mike Pompeo are envious of Zarif’s competence in exposing the illegal moves of the U.S. against Iran. They are angry that Zarif, a professor of international law, has succeeded to isolate the hardliners in Washington through his logic.

Zarif dropped the bombshell when in an interview with the Fox News on April 27 he publicly revealed that the B-Team, including Bolton and bibi Netanyahu, are trying to lure Trump into a war with Iran. 

Also, remarks by Zarif that it is the first time in modern history that a country - the United States - is punishing other countries for observing international law sounded like a huge earthquake in the White House. Zarif was in fact referring to the secondary sanctions against countries that do legal trade with Iran in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2231, which endorsed the nuclear deal.

Bolton and Pompeo feel helpless and irritated when Zarif tells the world, especially the American people, that the U.S. sanctions against Iranian people are examples of “economic terrorism”.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin claimed that Zarif “spreads the regime’s propaganda and disinformation” on social media. But the point is that hardliners in Washington and Tel Aviv are rattled by tweets that this man of intellect and diplomacy posts on his Twitter page. 

By sanctioning Zarif the United States is acting like a dictatorial regime which tortures and imprisons its political opponents to silence them but at the end, they will lose the battle against opponents. 

Trump and his team also will not be able to sanction the mind and intelligence of Zarif.