The US on Wednesday slapped financial sanctions on Iran’s foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, as part of its escalating campaign of pressure against the Islamic Republic.

The unusual action of penalizing the top diplomat of another nation comes a month after President Trump signed an executive order placing sanctions on Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian officials have noted that Zarif doesn’t have any US assets, and that his travels to New York for official UN business would be unaffected by the new sanctions, in accordance with America’s international obligations.

Zarif met earlier this month with Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, a Trump ally, about potentially opening a back channel for restarting nuclear talks between the two countries.

With Post wires