The United States said yesterday that it will refuse to send an ambassador to a UN meeting on nuclear disarmament because Iran is heading the session.
Iran is scheduled to hold the rotating presidency at the 65-nation Conference on Disarmament in Geneva from May 27 until June 23.
The US Mission to the United Nations said that countries under UN sanctions should not be allowed to hold such positions.
A US spokesman said it is “unfortunate and highly inappropriate.”
The UN Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanctions against Iran because of concerns that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons and over its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment.
Oil-rich Iran claims its nuclear program is peaceful and exists only to produce energy for civilian use.