Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif lashed out at the US administration for restricting trafficking of his country's diplomats in New York, calling it as inhuman.
"It is certainly not a friendly action. It puts the members of the mission and their families under basically inhuman conditions. But for me it's fine because I don't have any work anywhere other than the three buildings," Zarif told reporters at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday.
The US has tightly restricted the travel of more than a dozen Iranian diplomats and their families living in New York, according to a US diplomatic note on Tuesday.
The diplomats are subjected to the same rules imposed by the United States on Zarif, who arrived on Sunday amid heightened tensions between the two countries.
They may only travel between the United Nations, the Iranian UN mission, the Iranian UN ambassador's residence and John F. Kennedy airport. There is also a carve out for the six blocks surrounding Queensboro Plaza in Long Island City in the borough of Queens. It was not immediately clear why.
Zarif had on Tuesday lashed out at Washington for restricting his trafficking in New York while he is busy with UN meetings and related programs.
Zarif in a tweet referred to his interview with Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News in New York, and wrote, "We sat down on July 15 in Iran's UN ambassador’s residence — one of the three buildings I’m permitted to set foot in while in the US."
The Iranian top diplomat reminded that he is "conducting official UN business".
Late last month Washington threatened to blacklist Zarif, a move that could impede any effort to use diplomacy to resolve disagreements with Tehran. However, sources said that Washington had decided to hold off for now.
The United Nations expressed concerns about curbs imposed on Zarif by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters Monday that the world body had notified Washington of its concerns.
"The secretariat is aware of the restrictive travel measures imposed by the host country on personnel of the permanent mission of Iran to the UN. The secretariat is in close contact with the permanent missions of the United States and Iran to the UN regarding this matter and has conveyed its concerns to the host country," he noted.
Fars News Agency
