Iran on Friday accused the United States of delaying visa issuance for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to take part in a UN Security Council meeting in New York on Iran's nuclear program, the official IRNA news agency reported. "Despite Iran's complete application formality for the visa and the U.S. administration officials' promises to grant visa at the earliest possible time, the visa is not available for the time being. It should have been issued sometime ago," Deputy Foreign Minister for International and Legal Affairs Abbas Araghchi was quoted as saying.

It seems the U.S. officials are taking their unilateral approaches by delaying visa for the Iranian president, he said.

"It is blatant violation of the consular undertaking of the UN host country in dealing with visa requests of officials of United Nations member states and another indication of the U.S. ill- intention toward Iranian nuclear program," he said.

Ahmadinejad is prepared to go to New York to address a Security Council meeting on Saturday in a bid to prevent another UN sanction resolution against his country.

The U.S. State Department has said that the White House would grant visas for the Iranian president and his entourage so he could express his opinions at the meeting during which UN Security Council members are supposed to vote on the resolution.

Source: Xinhua