Iran FM denied visa for trip to UN in New York

TEHRAN - Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tells reporters on Tuesday that he is being a denied a visa to attend an open debate at the UN headquarters in New York City later this week as tensions continue to boil between Tehran and Washington.

He claims that UN chief Antonio Guterres informed him of the decision following a phone call with the White House.

"What we know is that the US State Secretary (Mike Pompeo), in a call to the Secretary General of the United Nations, said: 'We did not have time to issue a visa for Mohammad Javad Zarif and we will not issue a visa'," Zarif said.

"The Secretary General responded by saying that it is Iran's right to take part in this session," Iran's top diplomat said, quoted by semi-official news agency ISNA.

His claims are yet to be confirmed by the US administration, but come at times of heightened uncertainty as Iran prepared to bury Qassem Soleimani’s remains, killed by US drone strike on Friday in Baghdad.

War of words

The war of words that has unraveled since the killing has led many to fear the breakout of an outright war, with US President Donald Trump claiming to have 52 Iranian sites within crosshairs should Tehran decide to avenge their heralded commander's death.  

On Tuesday, Zarif said the US visa decision was "a sign of the bankruptcy of the US government and Trump's regime", according to ISNA.

The 1947 UN ‘headquarters agreement’ states that the United States is generally obligated to allow visits from foreign member diplomats, but Washington claims it can deny access for ‘security, terrorism and foreign policy’ reasons.

This comes as nothing new to Iranian officials, considering that since mid 2019 they have been under strict limitations on movement while visiting the US, despite calls in December from the UN to lift the restrictions.

They are only permitted access to the area around UN headquarters, the Iranian diplomatic mission and the ambassador's residence.

Zarif's trip to the UN, penned in before recent flare-ups, was to attend an open debate on Thursday called "Upholding the Charter of the United Nations”, where he would have had an opportunity, in front of the world’s press, to remark on recent flare-ups and in his own words "raise America's crimes”.

He last attended a UN gathering in New York last September, shortly after the US sanctioned him for implementing ‘the reckless agenda of Iran’s Supreme Leader’.