US grants visa to Iran’s foreign minister to visit New York, but he isn’t allowed to roam freely
- Not approving visa could have complicated already tense relations between Iran and the United States to diplomacy
- The Trump administration had considered blacklisting the foreign minister by sanctioning him
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he granted a visa to Iran’s foreign minister to visit New York, primarily to meet US obligations to the United Nations, but that his movements would be sharply curtailed.
Pompeo said that Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his delegation would be permitted to travel back and forth between UN headquarters and the Iranian mission six blocks away, and to the residence of Iran’s UN ambassador nearby.
The group arrived in New York on Sunday.
“US diplomats don’t roam around Tehran, so we don’t see any reason for Iranian diplomats to roam freely around New York City, either,” Pompeo said.
“It’s absolutely appropriate that we provide Foreign Minister Zarif and his delegation with all the rights that they are due under the UN headquarters agreement, and nothing more than that.”
Zarif is in New York to attend a meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council, a high-level ministerial meeting on sustainable development goals for issues that include conflict, hunger, gender equality and climate change.