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Iran Blacklists Trump, US Officials as his Term Nears End

President Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally in support of US Senate Republican candidates Sen. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in Dalton, Ga. January 4, 2021. (AP)
President Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally in support of US Senate Republican candidates Sen. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in Dalton, Ga. January 4, 2021. (AP)
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Iran Blacklists Trump, US Officials as his Term Nears End

President Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally in support of US Senate Republican candidates Sen. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in Dalton, Ga. January 4, 2021. (AP)
President Donald Trump gestures at a campaign rally in support of US Senate Republican candidates Sen. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue in Dalton, Ga. January 4, 2021. (AP)

Iran blacklisted US President Donald Trump and several current and former senior US officials on Tuesday over what it called “terrorist and anti-human rights” acts, a move widely regarded as symbolic.

Tehran’s move, announced on the last full day of the Trump administration, allows the seizure of any assets in Iran of sanctioned individuals. There have been no reports of any such assets, so the move is unlikely to have financial impact on the outgoing US president or officials.

The Trump administration rained sanctions down on Iranian officials, politicians and companies after withdrawing the United States in 2018 from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Among officials sanctioned by Iran were Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; ex-Defense Secretary Mark Esper; Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, the Foreign ministry said in a statement carried by state media.

Other blacklisted individuals included Central Intelligence Agency Director Gina Haspel; former National Security Adviser John Bolton; former US Iran envoy Brian Hook; Elliott Abrams, Washington’s special representative on Iran and Venezuela; and Treasury Department sanctions official Andrea Gacki, it said.

The officials were blacklisted “for their role in terrorist and anti-human rights activities against Iran and its citizens”, Foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said.

US President-elect Joe Biden has said Washington will rejoin the nuclear deal if Iran resumes strict compliance.

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New Zealand Navy Ship Sinks Off Samoa

A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
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New Zealand Navy Ship Sinks Off Samoa

A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS
A view of a New Zealand Navy vessel on fire, as seen from Tafitoala, Samoa, October 6, 2024, in this picture obtained from social media. Dave Poole/via REUTERS

A Royal New Zealand Navy vessel ran aground and sank off Samoa but all 75 crew and passengers on board were safe, the New Zealand Defense Force said in a statement on Sunday.

Manawanui, the navy's specialist dive and hydrographic vessel, ran aground near the southern coast of Upolu on Saturday night as it was conducting a reef survey, Commodore Shane Arndell, the maritime component commander of the New Zealand Defense Force, said in a statement.
Several vessels responded and assisted in rescuing the crew and passengers who had left the ship in lifeboats, Reuters quoted Arndell as saying.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon was also deployed to assist in the rescue.
The cause of the grounding was unknown and would need further investigation, New Zealand Defense Force said.
Video and photos published on local media showed the Manawanui, which cost the New Zealand government NZ$103 million in 2018, listing heavily and with plumes of thick grey smoke rising after it ran aground.
The vessel later capsized and was below the surface by 9 a.m. local time, New Zealand Defence Force said.
The agency said it was "working with authorities to understand the implications and minimise the environmental impacts.”
Chief of Navy Rear Admiral Garin Golding told a press conference in Auckland that a plane would leave for Samoa on Sunday to bring the rescued crew and passengers back to New Zealand.
He said some of those rescued had suffered minor injuries, including from walking across a reef.
Defense Minister Judith Collins described the grounding as a "really challenging for everybody on board."
"I know that what has happened is going to take quite a bit of time to process," Collins told the press conference.
"I look forward to pinpointing the cause so that we can learn from it and avoid a repeat," she said, adding that an immediate focus was to salvage "what is left" of the vessel.
Rescue operations were coordinated by Samoan emergency services and Australian Defense personnel with the assistance of the New Zealand rescue center, according to a statement from Samoa Police, Prison and Corrections Service posted on Facebook.
Manawanui is used to conduct a range of specialist diving, salvage and survey tasks around New Zealand and across the South West Pacific.
New Zealand's Navy is already working at reduced capacity with three of its nine ships idle due to personnel shortages.