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US Silent on Ousting Iran's Sanctioned FM Zarif From Social Media

Michael Lipin

   This article originated in [1]VOA's Persian Service. VOA Persian's
   Katherine Ahn and State Department Correspondent Cindy Saine
   contributed.

   WASHINGTON -- A week after the U.S. sanctioned Iranian Foreign Minister
   Mohammad Javad Zarif, raising the prospect of him losing access to U.S.
   social media platforms, U.S. officials and tech companies are mum on
   the issue.

   The Trump administration sanctioned Zarif on July 31 for having "acted
   or purported to act" on behalf of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali
   Khamenei, whom it sanctioned a month earlier as part of its "maximum
   pressure campaign" against Tehran.

   A Treasury Department [2]statement announcing the move said Zarif was
   being sanctioned under President Donald Trump's [3]June 24 executive
   orderblocking "all property and interests" of Khamenei under U.S.
   jurisdiction, as well as those of anyone who has "acted or purposed to
   act" for him. Section 4 of the order imposes a "prohibition" on
   providing "funds, goods or services '¦ to or for the benefit of any
   person" whose property and interests are blocked pursuant to the order.

   The Treasury statement said the department's Office of Foreign Assets
   Control (OFAC) also had [4]added Zarif to its list of Specially
   Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons, known as an SDN list.

   The Treasury Department did not respond to a VOA Persian request for
   comment on whether the prohibition on providing "services" to Zarif
   includes a ban on giving him access to U.S. social media platforms,
   including his [5]Twitterand [6]Instagram accounts.

   Followers

   Zarif has 1.2 million followers on Twitter and 729,000 followers on
   Instagram, which is owned by Facebook. He has been active on both
   accounts in the days since his July 31 designation.

     We know that calling for dialog & peace is an existential threat to
     [7]#B_Team.
     And since reason for designating me is my words, would "US persons"
     need OFAC license to "engage" with me by reading my writings or
     listening to interviews?
     cc: [8]@stevenmnuchin1
     cc: [9]@SecPompeo
     cc: [10]@jack
     -- Javad Zarif (@JZarif) [11]July 31, 2019

   In one post, Zarif asked if his designation means that "U.S. persons
   need an "OFAC license to engage" with me by reading my writings or
   listening to interviews."

   After VOA Persian contacted the State Department regarding Zarif's
   access to U.S. social media platforms, a spokesperson provided this
   response: "Twitter and Instagram are private companies. We refer you to
   them for questions on their handling of individual accounts." The
   spokesperson also referred VOA to the Treasury Department for any
   additional clarification.

   Stephanie Otway, Instagram's policy communications manager, said in an
   email the Facebook subsidiary is unable to comment about Zarif's
   account.

References

   1. https://ir.voanews.com/
   2. http://bit.ly/2MdhCt1
   3. http://bit.ly/2KLqxyH
   4. http://bit.ly/2MINjcZ
   5. https://twitter.com/JZarif
   6. https://www.instagram.com/jzarif_ir/
   7. https://twitter.com/hashtag/B_Team?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   8. https://twitter.com/stevenmnuchin1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
   9. https://twitter.com/SecPompeo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
  10. https://twitter.com/jack?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
  11. https://twitter.com/JZarif/status/1156707044814204928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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