In a tweet on Wednesday, Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif reacted to sanctioning two IRGC commanders by the United States under the pretext of supporting Taliban, pointing out that the US itself is negotiating with the Taliban, and that the Taliban have always been "anti-Iran".

Iran Press- Iran news/ Foreign Minister Zarif has written on his twitter account that the newly announced sanctions against two IRGC commanders under the pretext of supporting Taliban in Afghanistan were aimed at deflecting attention from the brutal killing of Saudi dissident Jamal Khashoggi by US-backed Saudi regime as well as the crimes committed by the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, Mehr news agency reported.

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Zarif wrote “To deflect from headlines on Saudi brutality in Istanbul and across Yemen, US Treasury—while in Saudi Arabia, no less—sanctions Iran for "supporting" anti-Iran Taliban.”

Then Zarif pointed to United States government’s recent attempts to negotiate with Taliban, saying “Conveniently omitting that US is negotiating with the very same Taliban now & its clients have long backed it.”

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Monday amid an international outcry over journalist Jamal Khashoggi's murder.

Mnuchin's arrival in Riyadh comes after he joined other government officials from multiple countries as well as top banking and finance executives in bowing out of a high-profile investor conference in Saudi Arabia amid growing controversy over Khashoggi's disappearance and apparent murder, CNN reported.

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In an address to the Turkish parliament in Ankara on Tuesday, Erdogan laid out what he said were the facts of the case in which the dissident Saudi writer was killed on October 2, outlining an apparently pre-planned murder.

Earlier, Erdogan had promised to tell the “naked truth” about the killing of Khashoggi during his weekly address to parliament.

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Saudi Arabia has admitted dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi died shortly after he entered the Saudi embassy in Istanbul and claimed that he was killed in a “fist-fight”.

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Saudi Arabia admits Khashoggi killed in its consulate

The Washington Post columnist was last seen entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, the day a Saudi hit squad allegedly arrived at the consulate.

Murdering the prominent journalist has drawn fire from around the globe particularly across the political spectrum.

Read more:

Zarif: Global reaction to Khashoggi's murder belated but severe

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