The meetings began on Tuesday and will run until 18 April in Washington, DC [Getty]
The United States has denied visas to Palestinian representatives seeking to attend the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, several sources told The New Arab.
The meetings began on Tuesday and will run until 18 April in Washington, DC.
Two sources also said that Oman’s delegation had apologised for not attending this year’s meetings, with only representatives from its embassy in Washington present. Another source indicated that at least two other Arab countries did not attend the meetings this year.
A separate source said Kuwait’s delegation had also withdrawn, while Iraq was unable to attend.
Washington had previously announced in December an expansion of its entry ban to include all citizens of 20 countries, among them Palestinians, alongside partial restrictions on 20 others.
The updated list expanded an earlier one of 12 countries, with the United States continuing to bar all citizens of Syria, Sudan, Libya, Yemen and Somalia from entering the country.
However, the US allowed delegations from some countries whose citizens are subject to entry bans to participate in IMF events, including Syria and Yemen, while Palestinian representatives were prevented from attending.
Officials from several African countries whose citizens are also subject to entry restrictions, including Niger and others, were likewise permitted to take part.
TNA contacted the US State Department for comment on the denial of entry to representatives from certain countries attending the IMF and World Bank meetings, but was referred to the Treasury Department, which is responsible for implementing sanctions on individuals.
A correspondent for the outlet also asked the Treasury whether Iran had been prevented from participating in the IMF meetings, but received no response.
An email inquiry to the IMF’s Group of 24, which includes Iran among its members, had also gone unanswered at the time of publication.
The US and Israel began striking Iran on 28 February, immediately drawing the wider region into conflict. A fragile truce has held since 7 April amid a US-Iran standoff over the Strait of Hormuz, Tehran’s nuclear and missile programmes, and support for regional proxies.
