US denies Iran’s foreign minister, Zarif visa into its country

The United States has denied a visa to Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif

The visa was meant to allow Zarif attend a UN Security Council meeting in New York on Thursday.

Recall that Trump had on Sunday insisted that Iranian cultural sites would under heavy attack not minding that doing so would constitute a war crime under international law.

The President first raised the prospect of targeting Iranian cultural sites in a tweet on Saturday where he said the US had 52 targets in its sights.

However, the US State Department refused to comment on the matter, Al Jazeera reports.

Iran’s mission to the UN said: “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.”

Zarif was meant to attend a meeting of the Security Council on Thursday on the topic of upholding the UN Charter.

It was learnt the meeting and Zarif’s travel had been planned before the escalation in tensions between the US and Tehran.