Speaking to ICANA on Monday, Zarif denied a story that Iran’s UN envoy has become the victim of a biological assassination attempt.
Zarif said Takht-Ravanchi was diagnosed with cancer after taking the office at the UN in New York, adding that the ambassador had been unaware of his disease in Iran.
The foreign minister noted that Takht-Ravanchi’s physician insisted on an emergency operation in the US after diagnosis of cancer, and that the envoy is now undergoing chemotherapy at a New York hospital.
His comments came after Iranian MP Mohammad Javad Abtahi called on Zarif to return Takht-Ravanchi to Iran for treatment due to the risk of his “biological assassination in an American hospital.”
When in New York to attend the UN General Assembly in September, Zarif was barred by the US administration from visiting Takht-Ravanchi in hospital.