Iran’s top diplomat makes surprise visit to G-7, won’t meet US officials

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman says the Islamic Republic’s top diplomat has landed at the French city hosting the G-7 leaders’ summit, though he won’t be negotiating nor meeting with US officials while there.

Abbas Mousavi writes on Twitter that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif had arrived in Biarritz.

Mousavi makes the announcement just after an Airbus A321 registered to the Iranian government landed there, fueling speculation Zarif could be on board.

This is a surprise trip by Zarif. He had only been known to be traveling in the coming days to Asia as part of his tour to get support for Iran amid the US campaign against it since US President Donald Trump withdrew America from Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Mousavi stressed in his tweet that “there will be no meetings or negotiations” with American officials during Zarif’s trip.

— AP