US denies visa to Iranian Foreign Minister
The United States has denied a visa to Iran's foreign minister, who was scheduled to attend a UN Security Council meeting. Iran's UN representative said that US officials have not officially announced the denial of a visa to Zarif.
Reuters reported on Tuesday, January 7, citing diplomatic sources, that the United States has denied a visa to Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who was scheduled to attend a UN Security Council meeting.
Mr. Zarif was scheduled to travel to New York to attend a United Nations Security Council meeting on the killing of Qassem Soleimani.
The Reuters report said the US action “is inconsistent with the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, which requires the US to allow foreign officials to enter the United States for UN-related matters.” But the US can refuse to issue visas for “security, terrorism and foreign policy reasons.”
The refusal to issue a visa to the Iranian Foreign Minister comes at a time when tensions between Iran and the United States have intensified after the killing of Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Quds Force, by American forces in Iraq.
The US State Department has declined to comment on the "denial of issuing a visa to the Iranian Foreign Minister."
Iran's representative to the United Nations also told Zarif about the denial of a visa: "We have seen media reports, but we have not been officially informed."
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric also declined to comment on the denial of a visa for Zarif.
Zarif was scheduled to attend a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday, January 9. According to Reuters, Zarif's trip to the United States was planned before the killing of Qassem Soleimani.
Majid Takht Ravanchi, Iran's permanent representative to the United Nations, has described the killing of Qassem Soleimani as a "clear example of state terrorism" and as a "criminal act" and a "gross violation of fundamental principles of international law," including the UN Charter, by the United States.
This is not the first time that the US has refused to issue visas to Iranian officials. In the past six years, Zarif had traveled to New York with Rouhani many times, but on August 1, 2019, the US placed the Iranian foreign minister on its sanctions list for the first time.
Until now, the US has dealt with individuals on the sanctions list by preventing them from traveling to the country.
The US Treasury Department placed the Islamic Republic's Foreign Minister on its sanctions list on July 31, 2019. The department argued that Zarif was acting in the name of the Islamic Republic's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The US government has also imposed sanctions on Ali Khamenei and his assets and entities.
Source: DW
