Eli Lake, Columnist

The Confusing Sanctions Against Iran’s Foreign Minister

They will do nothing to advance U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf.

August 1, 2019 at 5:30 AM UTC

Eli Lake is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering national security and foreign policy. He was the senior national security correspondent for the Daily Beast and covered national security and intelligence for the Washington Times, the New York Sun and UPI.

Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif
Photographer: HOW HWEE YOUNG - Pool/Getty Images

Provide news feedback or report an error

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

This article is for subscribers only.

If President Donald Trump’s goal is to confound and confuse Iran’s regime, then the sanctions designation against its foreign minister, Javad Zarif, is a masterstroke.

If the purpose of his policy is to pressure Iran into submitting to a better deal than the one Zarif helped negotiate in 2015 or to deter Iran from its escalations in the Persian Gulf, however, then the designation is a blunder.