US Denies Visa To Iranian Foreign Minister For UN Meeting

Iran's Foreign Minister, Mohammed Javad Zarif, has been denied a visa by the US to attend the United Nations Security Council meeting that is scheduled to be held in New York on Thursday, according to a US official.

The official disclosed this news anonymously said that the visa denial was due to the rising tensions between the US and Iran after the former killed one of Iran's prominent military commander, Qaseem Soleimani, in an airstrike at the Baghdad International airport on Friday, last week.

As stated in the UN's "Headquarters Agreement" of 1947, the United States is required to grant access to the foreign diplomats of the United Nations; but Washington disagrees with the agreement on this matter, citing “security, terrorism and foreign policy” as grave reasons for the allowance of such denial.

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The State Department is yet to make any comment on the report. Although, a comment has been made by the Iranian mission to the United States saying,  “We have seen the media reports, but we have not received any official communication from either the US or the UN regarding Foreign Minister Zarif’s visa.”