Iran's finance minister cancels visit to US over visa delay
Iran has boycotted an IMF/World Bank Group Spring Meetings planned to be held in Washington next week over United States’ delay in issuing visas for finance minister Ehsan Khandouzi and his accompanying delegation.
Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance said in a Saturday statement that Khandouzi had decided to call off his planned visit to the US after authorities in the country said they would issue visas for the Iranian delegation only in the days within the start of the IMF/World Bank event.
“This is not a first time that the US government is violating its obligations towards international institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and is stonewalling the attendance of a delegation from our country in international summits,” said the statement.
It criticized the United States for having an opportunistic approach to the presence of some international institutions on its soil by forcing them to apply political pressure on member countries.
The Ministry said those pressures have deprived Iran of the ability to enjoy its rights in international organizations.
It also said that US authorities have repeatedly blocked Iran’s presence in IMF and World Bank Group meetings despite the fact that the county is a founding member of those international institutions.
Reports have suggested that the IMF has delayed processing an Iranian request for a $5 million loan that the country needs to tackle the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said earlier this week that Washington will block any Iranian attempt to access special drawing rights (SDRs) in the IMF that are held in dollars.
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