Iran says US sanctions violate religious freedom

Iran’s foreign minister says US President Trump’s new sanctions targeting the Iranian supreme leader show the White House doesn’t understand “international regulations.”

Javad Zarif says that the US sanctions could violate the freedom of worship of some American Muslims because it restricts links with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

That’s according to a quote by Iran’s state news agency IRNA.

Khamenei is the chief of Iran’s theocracy and considered by some Shiite Muslims as their religious guide.

The report also quotes Zarif as saying the new sanctions showed that it was a “lie” the US wanted to negotiate with Iran. He says the US has created “danger and tension in the region.”

— AP