Iran FM: US Sanctions Aim to Deflect Attention from Khashoggi’s Murder, Saudi Crimes in Yemen

Local Editor

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif considered that the new US sanctions against Iran aim to deflect global attention from the murder of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and Riyadh’s crimes in Yemen. 

In a post on his official Twitter account on Wednesday, Zarif hit out at the US for imposing sanctions on Iran over allegedly supporting the Taliban, an anti-Iran militant group with which Washington is seeking negotiations.

Relatively, the US Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions against eight individuals, including two allegedly linked to the al-Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps [IRGC] and accused Iran of providing material and financial support to the militants and supporting terrorism.

Zarif said the US sanctions meant to protect Saudi Arabia and divert attention from Khashoggi’s murder and Yemen’s war.

“To deflect from headlines on Saudi brutality in Istanbul and across Yemen, US Treasury—while in Saudi Arabia, no less—sanctions Iran for 'supporting' anti-Iran Taliban. Conveniently omitting that US is negotiating with the very same Taliban now& its clients have long backed it,” said the tweet.

The world has reacted angrily to the murder of Khashoggi -- a Saudi writer, US resident, and Washington Post columnist -- amid weeks of repeated denials from Saudi authorities that the kingdom had nothing to do with his disappearance.

Khashoggi, living in exile in the US, entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2 to obtain documentation certifying he had divorced his ex-wife, but he did not leave the building.

Saudi officials originally insisted that Khashoggi had left the diplomatic mission after his paperwork was finished, but they finally admitted several days later that he had in fact been killed inside the building during "an altercation."

Several European countries, in addition to Turkey and the US, a major ally of Riyadh, have called for clarifications on the journo’s murder.

The controversy over Khashoggi’s death comes as Riyadh continues to pound its impoverished southern neighbor Yemen.

Saudi Arabia and a number of its regional allies launched a devastating military campaign against Yemen in March 2015. The war has left more than 15,000 killed and thousands injured.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team