INFOGRAPHIC: US federal interest rates, inflation and unemployment rates since 1996 The US Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rate on Wednesday for the first time since 2008, slashing it by a quarter point

Iran claims Saudi Arabia killed "3000+ Americans" and still gets to have nuclear weapons https://t.co/PM3KqazMbX

@Natsecjeff @IntelCrab 30 minutes ago there were no clashes or shelling

#FLASH: Britain, Germany and France have asked the United Nations Security Council to meet behind closed-doors on Thursday on North Korea's latest missile launches, diplomats said - @Reuters

#BREAKING: Hamza bin Laden, son of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, has been killed in an intelligence operation involving the United States- US official to @nytimes, @NBCNews also confirms his death

#BREAKING: United States officially sanctions Iranian Foreign Minister @JZarif - US Treasury announcement

#BREAKING: US Treasury sanctions #Iran FM @JZarif

#BREAKING: United States expected to announce killing of Osama Bin Laden’s son, Hamza Bin Laden, shortly- US Official after @NBCNews report

It seems that the diplomatic path between Iran and US is closed for the near future

Well, I would assume that’s the end of any prospect of diplomacy between the United States and Iran, at least for quite some time. https://t.co/8HbqkjXg9k

sanction office is busy again https://t.co/01eRMan9M3

"This is a highly unusual action," acknowledges a senior US official.

US "does not consider him to be our primary point of contact" for any potential revived nuclear or other negotiations, says senior administration official.

BREAKING: US Sanctions #Iran FM @JZarif , main negotiator of nuclear Deal, face of Iran diplomacy. US Sanctions bar Zarif from visiting or making transactions via US. https://t.co/dU6cnkwFT1

#BREAKING US Treasury department imposes sanctions on #Iran|ian foreign minister Zarif: statement

#BREAKING: US imposes sanctions on Iranian foreign minister Zarif

US Secretary of State Pompeo: The Iranian Foreign Ministry is not only #Iran's diplomatic arm but also a means of promoting destabilizing policies

Rhetoric of @JZarif is reprehensible and more resembles that of a propaganda minister than a foreign minister, says a senior US official.

I’m assuming Zarif can’t attend the United Nations anymore, as the sanctions, as @Joyce_Karam points out, prevent him from entering or making transactions in the US. https://t.co/FJK3JA1yv5

U.S. Senior administration officials said that the designation was due to #Zarif's actions on behalf of #Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali #Khamenei, whom the administration sanctioned in late June.

Zarif, according to a U.S. senior official, "implements the reckless agenda of Iran's supreme leader" as the "primary spokesperson" for #Iran. The official added that the action comes in light of "completely unacceptable" recent behavior by Iran.