TEHRAN - Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Tuesday that refusal by the United States to issue visa for him to attend a UN Security Council meeting scheduled in New York later this week shows Washington’s political “bankruptcy”.

“They fear that someone comes to the United States and reveals realities. They are mistaken. The whole world is not limited to New York. You can talk to the people of the United States from Tehran,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Tehran Dialogue Forum.

He also said, “An administration which carries out state terrorism, economic terrorism and threatens war crimes and crimes against humanity does not care about violating terms of United Nations’ headquarters agreement.”

Under the 1947 UN “headquarters agreement,” the U.S. is required to allow access to the UN for foreign diplomats.

‘Regional countries should not sacrifice neighbors for U.S.’

Zarif also said that the regional countries should not sacrifice their neighbors for the U.S.

“I am not saying that the regional countries should enter war with the United States, however, they should not sacrifice their neighbors for their own security,” he said.

NA/PA