Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the United States had declined to issue him a visa to attend a UN Security Council meeting scheduled in New York later this week, as tensions escalate between the two countries after the US killed Iran’s most prominent military commander.
“They fear that someone comes to the US and reveals realities,” Zarif said from Tehran on Tuesday.
His comments come as Iran prepares to burry the remains of general Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated on Friday in Baghdad, along with Iraqi paramilitary commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis.
Under the 1947 UN “headquarters agreement,” the US is generally required to allow access to the UN for foreign diplomats. But Washington says it can deny visas for “security, terrorism and foreign policy” reasons.
