Iran's economy minister Ehsan Khandouzi
An alleged American delay in issuing a visa has led Ehsan Khandouzi, economy minister, to cancel his attendance in Washington at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Finance Saturday, the United States has violated its commitments over hosting international events and was obstructing, not the first time, the attendance of Iranian delegations at international events taking place in the US. Washington has not responded to the charges.
Ehsan Khandouzi, who has been in office since last August and has called for tighter monetary control, had planned to lead the Iranian delegation to the World Bank-IMF spring meetings due April 18-April 24. The meetings are expected to focus on the detrimental fall-out from the Ukraine war, particularly with poorer countries of the global ‘south’ facing rapidly rising commodity prices including foodstuffs.
In February, the Iranian national freestyle wrestling team had to call off a trip to Arlington, Texas, for a friendly match after the US government refused to issue visas for six members of the party, including Alireza Dabir, the chairman of Iran's Wrestling Federation, two wrestlers, a coach, the team manager, and a referee.