TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will only be able to visit his country's UN envoy, Majid Takht Rawangi, in a hospital in New York unless Iran releases a US citizen, the State Department said on Saturday.
A targeted Iranian minister with US sanctions can move in New York only within a certain area around the UN headquarters in Manhattan, and has asked for a permit to reach the hospital where Rawangi is chosen, but his request has been denied.
A State Department spokeswoman told AFP: "We explained to the Iranian mission that the request would be granted if Iran releases an American citizen, Iran has been unfairly holding a number of US citizens for years, making their families and friends unable to see them freely."