Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that he had been informed by United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres that the United States had refused his visa to travel to the UN headquarters in New York.
"What we do know is that the United States Secretary of State (Mike Pompeo, editor's note), when calling the United Nations Secretary-General, said" We don't have time to issue a visa for Mohammad Javad Zarif and we will not issue him a visa, "" said the Iranian minister.
"The Secretary General responded by saying that Iran has the right to participate in this session", an "open debate" to all members of the United Nations, organized Thursday at the Security Council on respect for the Charter of the The UN, he said, quoted by the Iranian news agency Isna.
"What are they really afraid of?" "
The move is "a sign of the rout of the US government and the Trump regime," he said, adding that he planned during his visit to New York to "talk about America's crimes." "What are they really afraid of?" Truth? He asked on Twitter. Asked about the visa refusal at a press conference in Washington, Mike Pompeo kicked in, without denying.
"We don't comment on visa issues," "so I can't add much to this question on Minister Zarif's trip to the United States," he said. "I will only say that: we will always respect our obligations within the framework of the requirements of the UN", "We will do it in this particular case and more broadly every day," he added.
Tensions have been highest between Tehran and Washington since the death of the powerful Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, killed Friday in an American drone strike in Baghdad. Head of the Quds Force, an elite unit in charge of the external operations of the Revolutionary Guards (the Iranian ideological army), Soleimani was the architect of Iran's strategy in the Middle East.
"Maximum pressure" on the Islamic Republic
Host state of the United Nations headquarters, the United States has in principle the obligation to quickly grant visas to states which request it to allow their officials to attend meetings at the United Nations. But already in September, they had delayed issuing a visa to an Iranian delegation accompanying Mohammad Javad Zarif and to Iranian President Hassan Rohani on the occasion of the General Assembly of the United Nations.
And in July, Washington had been criticized by the UN for having granted Mohammad Javad Zarif a visa drastically limiting his trips to New York, where he was to attend a UN meeting on sustainable development. In late July, as part of its policy of "maximum pressure" on the Islamic Republic, the United States put the name of Mohammad Javad Zarif on the black list of those subject to American financial sanctions.
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