Iran blacklists US ambassador to Iraq, two other diplomats

Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that in cooperation with other responsible bodies it had imposed sanctions on Tueller, Steve Fagin, the deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in Baghdad, and Erbil Rob Waller, the Consul General, based on adequate evidence and in line with a bill overwhelmingly approved by Iranian lawmakers in 2017 to confront “America's terrorist and adventurous actions” in the region, Press TV reported.

The statement added that the three American diplomats have had “an effective engagement in organizing, financing, leading and committing terrorist acts against the interests of the government or citizens” of Iran.

They had also supported terrorist groups, including Daesh and Jabhat al-Nusra – formerly known as al-Nusra Front – and played an effective role in promoting state terrorism against regional nations, it said.

According to the statement, the three individuals were also involved in the assassination of Iran’s anti-terror commander Lieutenant General Qassem Soleimani in Iraq in early January.

The Foreign Ministry’s move came a day after the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi, alleging that the envoy was a "close adviser" to General Soleimani.

The Treasury claimed that Masjedi had employed the capacity as Tehran's ambassador to "obfuscate financial transfers" benefitting the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

In response, Masjedi said he was "pleased to hear the news" that the "terrorist and criminal regime of the United States has put me once more on the list of its unjust sanctions alongside 80 million Iranians."