Zarif barred from visiting dying in US Iranian diplomat

Iran criticized the United States Saturday for what it called an "inhumane" decision to bar Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif from visiting one of its diplomats at a hospital in New York, NBC News reports.

The State Department said Zarif, who is in the city for the United Nations General Assembly, could only visit the diplomat if Iran frees an American citizen.

On Saturday Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the country's official IRNA news agency that the U.S. has taken humanitarian issues "hostage" for political causes.