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Trump on June 24 signed an executive order imposing sanctions on Iran's leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the administration said on Wednesday that the sanctions on Zarif fell under that order. National security adviser John Bolton told Fox News on Thursday that Zarif was \"just a mouthpiece\" for Iran -- labeling him \"a conman,\" \"a shill\" and \"a grifter.\"

\"PHOTO:
Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
PHOTO: Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivers a speech during the anniversary of the 8th January 1978 uprising in Tehran, Iran on January 9, 2019.
>

Zarif negotiated Iran's 2015 nuclear deal with the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China. He has served as a key conduit between foreign diplomats and Iran's leadership for years, and has worked to salvage the nuclear agreement after Trump pulled the United States out of it last year.

The European Union said it regretted the U.S. decision and would still work with the foreign minister, according to the Associated Press.

\"PHOTO:
Tom Brenner/Bloomberg via Getty Images
PHOTO: John Bolton, national security adviser, pauses outside the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, July 31, 2019.
>

\"We will continue to work with Mr. Zarif, as Iran’s most senior diplomat, and in view of the importance of maintaining diplomatic channels,\" European Commission spokesman Carlos Martin Ruiz de Gordejuela said in Brussels, the AP reported.

Zarif himself dismissed the sanctions, writing in a tweet Wednesday that they would have \"no effect on me or my family.\"

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo granted a visa for Zarif to visit the United States last month -- but limited him to visiting just a few locations in New York, including the United Nations and Iran's diplomatic mission there. The senior administration official on Wednesday said future travel to the United States would be considered \"on a case-by-case basis.\"

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