Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif | Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images EU says it will work with Zarif despite US sanctions ‘We regret this decision,’ says EU spokesman.

The EU said Thursday that it would ignore U.S. sanctions against Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in the latest example of the stark rift between Washington and Brussels over dealings with Tehran.

The U.S. on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Zarif, the Western-educated foreign minister, in a move that seemed to contradict — and deeply complicate — President Donald Trump's stated desire to open new negotiations with Iran.

Asked about the U.S. decision on Thursday, an EU spokesman said it is of little matter to Brussels. The EU has sought to preserve the Iran nuclear accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), after Trump's unilateral withdrawal put the agreement in serious jeopardy.

"We regret this decision," the EU spokesman, Carlos Martin Ruiz De Gordejuela, said. "From our side we will continue to work with Mr. Zarif as Iran’s most senior diplomat and in view of the importance of maintaining diplomatic channels."

Zarif has proven an effective communicator for Iran on the international stage, but has often appeared to be undercut by more senior religious figures, including the supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who wield greater control over the government.

The disagreement over how to deal with Iran is perhaps the sharpest divide between the EU and the Trump administration. The European guarantors of the JCPOA have even created a special corporate vehicle intended to maintain economic dealings with Iran despite sanctions reimposed by Trump after he quit the nuclear deal.