US Denies Visa to Iran’s Foreign Minister
The United States did not issue a visa to Iran’s Foreign Minister who was scheduled to participate in a United Nations Security Council meeting. Iran’s representative at the United Nations said that American officials have not formally announced the denial of a visa to Zarif.
Reuters news agency reported on Tuesday, December 17 (January 7), citing diplomatic sources, that the United States did not issue a visa to Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Foreign Minister, who was scheduled to participate in a UN Security Council meeting.
Zarif was supposed to travel to New York to participate in a UN Security Council meeting regarding the killing of Qasem Soleimani.
Reuters reported that the US action “is in contradiction with the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, which requires the United States to allow foreign officials entry to the country for UN-related matters.” However, the United States can refrain from issuing visas for reasons of “security issues, terrorism, and foreign policy.”
The denial of a visa to Iran’s Foreign Minister occurred amid heightened tensions between Iran and the United States following the killing of Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, by US forces in Iraq.
The US State Department refused to comment on “the denial of a visa to Iran’s Foreign Minister.”
Iran’s representative at the United Nations also said regarding the visa denial to Zarif: “We have seen media reports, but we have not been formally notified.”
Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the United Nations, also refused to comment on the visa denial for Zarif.
Zarif was scheduled to participate in a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, December 19 (January 9). According to Reuters, Zarif’s trip to the United States had been planned before Qasem Soleimani’s killing.
Majid Takht-Ravanchi, Iran’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, described the killing of Qasem Soleimani as “a flagrant example of state terrorism” and as a “criminal act,” “a blatant violation of fundamental principles of international law,” including the UN Charter by the United States.
This is not the first time that the United States has refrained from issuing visas to Iranian officials. Over the past six years, Zarif had accompanied Rouhani to New York on several occasions, but on August 1 of the current year, for the first time, the United States placed Iran’s Foreign Minister on its sanctions list.
So far, the US practice for dealing with individuals on the sanctions list has been to prevent their travel to American soil.
The US Treasury Department placed the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic on its sanctions list on July 31, 2019. In its justification, the department stated that Zarif acts on behalf of Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The US government has also sanctioned Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and assets and institutions affiliated with him.
Source: DW
