Iran Says Zarif Leaving for UN in NY on Friday
◢ Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is to leave for New York early Friday to attend the UN General Assembly, his ministry said, after reports he may not be granted a visa. "The minister usually departs a day or two before the President," he added, seemingly confirming that both had received visas from the United States.
Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif is to leave for New York early Friday to attend the UN General Assembly, his ministry said, after reports he may not be granted a visa.
"Foreign Minister, @JZarif is leaving for New York early on Friday morning to attend the 74th session of UNGA," ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi wrote in a tweet on Thursday.
"The minister usually departs a day or two before the President," he added, seemingly confirming that both had received visas from the United States.
State media had reported the day before that Iran's President Hassan Rouhani and his delegation could be forced into skipping the assembly if US visas were not issued.
As the host government, the United States is generally obliged to issue visas to diplomats who serve at UN headquarters.
But as Iran's top diplomat, Zarif was sanctioned by the US on July 31—ahead of the UN General Assembly debate due to begin on Tuesday.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world body had been in contact with the U.S. "to solve all outstanding visa problems in relation to delegations".
Iran and the United States have been at loggerheads since May last year when Trump abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal and began reimposing sanctions in its campaign of "maximum pressure".
Iran responded by scaling back its commitments under the landmark accord, which gave it the promise of sanctions relief in return for limiting the scope of its nuclear programme.
The latest escalation had the US blaming Iran for Saturday attacks on two Saudi oil installations as well as a string of recent assaults on shipping in sensitive Persian Gulf waters, all denied by Iran.
Photo: IRNA
Suspension of Visas to Iranians not 'Political': Portugal
◢ Portugal denied Wednesday it was refusing visas to Iranians for "political" reasons, and insisted the measure was "temporary.” "It is not related to security conditions in Iran or any other aspect of an institutional or political nature," the foreign ministry added in a statement.
This story has been updated to reflect new reporting from AFP.
Portugal denied Wednesday it was refusing visas to Iranians for "political" reasons, and insisted the measure was "temporary".
The move came against a background of mounting tension between Iran and the West after Tehran breached a limit for uranium enrichment set in a 2015 nuclear deal.
"This decision is not political," a foreign ministry spokesman told AFP Wednesday.
"It is not related to security conditions in Iran or any other aspect of an institutional or political nature," the ministry added in a statement.
On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva announced a decision to suspend the issuing of visas to Iranians for "security reasons", telling parliament: "Portugal does not joke around with entries into its national territory."
The minister said he would not elaborate on the reasoning in public, though he later told local media the suspension had "nothing to do with the quality of bilateral relations between Portugal and Tehran."
Iran and the United States have been engaged in a war of words since Tehran in recent weeks enriched uranium past the limit set by a landmark 2015 nuclear in response to Washington pulling out last year.
There has also been tension on the high seas, after the British Royal Marines helped Gibraltar authorities detain an Iranian tanker that US officials believe was trying to deliver oil to Syria in violation of sanctions.
In response, Tehran has issued a series of increasingly ominous warnings to both the US and Britain about its right to take unspecified actions in reprisal.
And France has expressed concern about the fate of a French-Iranian academic arrested in Iran, the latest in a long list of dual nationals held in the country's prisons.
Photo: Wikicommons
