The foreign minister of the Islamic Republic, Mohammad Javad Zarif, claims that the reason for his sanction by the United States was his refusal to accept the offer visit the White House.

In his press conference on Monday, Zarif mentioned his meeting with Senator Rand Paul and said: “In my recent visit to New York, they told me I will be sanctioned in two weeks, but I didn’t accept the invitation to the White House and I was sanctioned for it.”

Zarif also claimed “today the United States is alone in the world and cannot form a coalition,” and that his sanction is “a failure in diplomacy and dialogue.”

The United States' Treasury added Zarif to the sanctions list last week.

Zarif once again referred to the economic sanctions as “economic terrorism”.

However, he stated that “Trump doesn’t want a war, but the White House national security advisor John Bolton and the prime minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu want a war.”

The foreign minister of the Islamic Republic also announced Iran is taking its third step in scaling down compliance with the nuclear deal also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

He emphasized that the third step is not the final step in leaving the JCPOA, “if we deem it necessary, we will exit the deal, but we still don’t.”

Zarif also claimed that the Iranian tanker that was seized while passing through Gibraltar was not headed for Syria, and referred to the seizure as “piracy”.