The U.S State Department has issued a restrictive visa for Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Islamic Republic’s minister of foreign affairs, that allows him to visit New York and attend meetings at the United Nations, but restricts his movements.

In an interview with the Washington Post, Secretary Pompeo said that Zarif and his delegation are only allowed to move between the U.N headquarter and the office of Iran’s representative to the UN.

"U.S. diplomats don't roam around Tehran, so we don't see any reason for Iranian diplomats to roam freely around New York City either," Pompeo told the Washington Post.

On Sunday, July 14, Zarif and his delegation arrived in New York to attend a meeting of the U.N. Economic and Social Council to discuss sustainable development.

"This is a leader who has supported a regime that jails political dissidents, treats women horribly. They go after peaceful worshipers. He's the mouthpiece of that autocracy. And they suppress free speech," Pompeo said.

Previously, the Trump administration had announced that Zarif’s name will soon be added to the list of sanctions.

The Iranian foreign minister will also meet with people from think tanks and journalists in New York. Pompeo said Zarif will use his visit to "spread malign propaganda," and made a pitch to appear on Iranian television, as Zarif does on American TV, so he could tell the Iranian people that "we care deeply about them, that we're supportive of the Iranian people, that we understand that the revolutionary theocracy is not acting in a way that is in their best interest."