Iran on Friday blacklisted the U.S. ambassador to Iraq as well as two additional U.S. diplomats in response to a recent move made by the Trump administration to penalize Iran’s special representative to Iraq.
Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh tweeted Friday that Ambassador Matthew Tueller, who has served as the U.S. ambassador to Iraq since June 2019, would be blacklisted citing a role in the fatal strike on Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani earlier this year.
“US Amb. to Iraq, Matthew Tueller, has had a central role in coordinating terrorist acts in Iraq & beyond, in criminal assassination of Gen. Soleimani & in advancing sanx agst our ppl. Today, Iran designated him & two other officials involved,” Mr. Khatibzadeh said. “Anti-Iran moves won’t go unanswered.”
One day prior, the Trump administration designated Iraj Masjedi, a general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF) and Iran’s ambassador to Iraq, “for acting for or on behalf of the IRGC-QF.”
• Lauren Toms can be reached at lmeier@washingtontimes.com.
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